Finding Spiritual Shelter from Mental Health Struggles

“My friends would tell me, ‘you don’t have to be a supermom.’ I thought you just had to do it all. It was like I had a compulsion to get everything perfect. I didn’t know that was anxiety.”

Years ago, raising two small children on her own, Hope Geuvera of Little Rock, Arkansas, worked tirelessly to be the best mom for her kids. “It was just who I was because I was trying to do everything and accomplish everything.”

Hope spent her early childhood in and out of Foster Care. Then her bio- logical mother died when she was just 16 years old. Today, she feels this fueled much of her struggles with mental health.

Eventually, she was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. At first, Geuvera didn’t understand that she had mental health issues. She thought her thinking was natural.

“Now years later, when everything has taken its toll on my body, I can look back and see and feel it. I was too busy running and moving that I couldn’t feel it.”

Such mental and emotional distress haunts millions. A recent government survey showed a doubling since 2019 in the proportion of Americans reporting anxiety or depressive disorder symptoms.

“My driving force was to give my kids what I didn’t have. Every day they knew that they could come home to the same house. And they could get off the bus and there was food and clothing. There was always stability for them, they always had what they needed.”

But with the best of intentions and efforts, Hope’s anxiety grew out of control. “It built up to the point that it was like something that boils over on the stove.”

Geuvera continues to battle the intense feelings. “It builds up so much that it [boils over]. And that’s when I either go down into depression or things just fall apart.”

Today, with the help of doctors and counselors, she is successfully managing her illness. But she especially credits her faith for giving her the support and comfort she needs.

As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Geuvera has made it her life’s work to reach out to comfort others with the Bible’s message of hope, love, and forgiveness that helped change her life.

Geuvera’s experience is no isolated case. Faith and the support of a congregation have helped many others turn the corner in their struggles with mental health.

“While the Bible does not indicate that spirituality cures medical problems, many have derived comfort and strength from what the Bible teaches and the practical guidance it provides,” said Robert Hendriks,

U.S. spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Hope, support, and positive coping skills aid mental health—whether these are built up by professional or faith-based sources, noted Lawrence Onoda, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist based in Mission Hills, California.

Even those with serious mental health conditions may find some aspects of religious participation help them cope with their symptoms, he said.

As one of the some 8 million in the United States who struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Gloria Acosta knew she needed comfort even if there is no cure.

While an arduous journey towards sobriety through a veterans’ program helped her get stabilized and settled in her own apartment in Los Ange- les, her journey stopped short of providing peace of mind.

“There was this constant fear,” recalled the 68-year-old. “I nailed the windows shut, put extra locks on the door, kept the blinds closed.”

Then one Saturday, a ray of sunshine knocked at her door. It was Elizabeth, a 12-year-old in yellow ruffles, whose innocence and boundless enthusiasm for the Bible message she was sharing disarmed Acosta.

Acosta started studying the Bible with Elizabeth, accompanied by others in the girl’s congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. After years of fighting for her life on the streets, the faith Acosta was gaining and the warm support of fellow believers gradually had an emotionally healing effect on her.

“I started feeling safe in my own surroundings,” said Acosta. “I felt hap- py, which I had never felt before.”

Since becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in August 2020, she’s re- moved all the extra locks on her doors. Warm sunlight floods through her windows as she sits at her desk to join congregation meetings on a virtual platform since the pandemic started.

While her PTSD still causes sleepless nights, she expressed feeling at peace with God and herself. “I don’t have to be all those things that I thought I had to be to survive in life,” she said. “I can just be Gloria.”

The Hardrick family, of Westland, Michigan, also fought through survival mode for years as they struggled with both homelessness and cancer.

They stayed in a claustrophobic hotel room where drug deals and prostitution awaited just outside the door. Leaving his wife, weak from chemotherapy and radiation treatments, there with his son shrouded Willie Hardrick in overwhelming anxiety every day as he headed to work.

“I was feeling defeated and useless—like I couldn’t do anything for my family,” he said.

Taking the advice of his Bible teacher to pray every day would calm him, though. Hardrick kept up with his Bible studies and got baptized during the pandemic. While his family eventually found a place to call their own, their anxieties weren’t over. Hardrick soon got his own diagnosis of cancer spreading through his body.

“The congregation has helped me keep my sanity,” said Hardrick, recalling the meals, rides to the hospital and other practical assistance he received from fellow worshippers.

Even more than that congregation support system, the hope from the Scriptures is what his wife, Angela, said helps her through what can feel like a hopeless situation.

“I remind myself every single day that—no matter how bad things go—I have to look forward to the future: No more sickness, no more homelessness,” she said, referring to Bible teachings about a future free from

suffering. “And with a brotherhood and their love that is so strong, you can overcome anything.”

More information on the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, including re- sources for coping with mental illness and emotional distress, can be found on their official website, www.jw.org.