Life Is Worth Getting Better: A Faith-Based Journey of Recovery from Depression, Anxiety, and Bipolar Ii Disorder

By Maria A. Mansfield

ABOUT THE BOOK

Life Is Worth Getting Better shares the story of Maria A. Mansfield as she takes on an eleven-year-plus battle to overcome a trio of mental disorders. She writes honestly of her eighteen-month treatment and of her resolve to get better.

In her account, Maria writes openly and sincerely about her experience, in a way most readers can easily relate to her story. She also adds valuable advice for confronting mental disorders in ones life or the lives of loved ones. She shares reminders from the Scriptures, of the consolation that faith in God can provide, and mentions the verses in the Bible, which helped her faith grow stronger during that season of her life.
Marias desire in writing this book was to be able to encourage others to get the help they need to recover. Her story is about hope and redemption and about finding encouragement to live your life to the fullest.
Your life is a gift, thats why Life is Worth Getting Better.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781532002168

Maria A. Mansfield

MARIA A. MANSFIELD currently resides in Virginia with her husband, James. She has two sons and their dog, Rocky. In her first book, "Life is Worth Getting Better," Maria tells her recovery story from mental health challenges, addressing what happened, what helped her get better, and how she's doing now. Now in her second book, "Honoring Your Recovery," the author addresses peers who are in Recovery, and anyone who wants to find more purpose and joy in their everyday life. She inspires her readers by using examples of her own life on how's she's been able to stay well for the last seven years. She still holds close to her heart, the coping skills she learned in her treatment and continues practicing them. Maria is grateful for the opportunity to live in wellness, and to be able to help others, through her lived experience. Maria volunteers for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and helps other peers who are recovering, feel inspired, and hopeful that they can live a more purposeful and joyful life. She's always amazed by the resiliency of the human spirit, and the courage it takes to reach higher levels of mental wellness. Maria loves spending time with her family, gardening, and walking their dog, Rocky.

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Copyright © 2016 Maria A. Mansfield.

Author Credits: Maria A. Mansfield

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-0215-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-8937-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0216-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016912376

iUniverse rev. date: 08/30/2016

CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. We Are Done Talking

2. When You Love Someone

3. Love Requires Sacrifice

4. We Are Moving to England Again

5. Welcome to England

6. Spring Break and Doggy Days

7. Nana and Mamo Visit

8. Fall of 2012

9. Get Back Up!

10. Let’s Do This!

11. My Treatment

12. Maybe This Wasn’t Such a Good Idea

13. A New Beginning

14. Do You Have Friends?

15. When Your Perfect Plan Doesn’t Pan Out

16. God Always Has a Better Plan

17. Which Perfect Families?

18. I Promise to Love You in Sickness and Health

19. My Legacy to You

20. Life Is a Gift

For Further Reference

To James, my husband, and best friend, I feel very special to be your wife. You are by far the best guy I could ever marry. Living with you is a lifetime date. Thank you for loving me even while I was sick. You are truly God’s gift to me. Thank you for being my biggest fan. I will love you all of my life.

To both our sons, you’re amazing! I am thankful to God for giving me the chance to raise you. You are both remarkable young men. Your hugs are a gift. My heart will always hope for the best for you.

To my friend Suzy, I only met you for a season, but your joy and hope changed my life. Thank you for believing I was going to get better. How I wish you could see me now. I miss you, my friend, but I know that you are in a much better place.

FOREWORD

W hen I first met Maria in November 2012, she was a well-dressed, smiling woman. She was in psychological distress, anxious, and underweight. She was more concerned about what I thought of her than what she thought of her self.

It had all become too much: moving home, raising her sons, and being a good wife. The stress had been building for many years. Many women ignore their well-being to give their best to other family members. Clinically, anxiety and depressive states worsen as symptoms like loss of appetite, poor sleep, and low mood is all ignored. It is especially complicated when, like Maria, the answer to How are you? is I’m all right. We tend to deny the symptoms, and we push away family and friends who see there is something wrong.

A person with depression keeps going, ignores the signs, tries harder, and does more. One day, the body and mind say, No more! The mind/body system has become fatigued and drained by stress and subsequent biochemical depletion.

When Maria reached her breaking point, she sought professional help. Slowly, with the right medication and psychological input, she began to understand her lack of self-belief, hidden childhood concerns, and the capacity to worry about anything and anyone but herself.

As recovery took hold, the confident, resourceful, dynamic, and creative Maria began to emerge. Her story is inspiring, and her book reveals—in a truly engaging way—just how to want to get well.

Geraldine McEwan, Clinical Psychotherapist

London, February 2016

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I t is nearly impossible to thank everyone who has helped in some way with this book.

I want to thank my husband, James, and my two sons for being a huge part of my life and for bearing with me during the time I was sick. I have no way of thanking you enough in any original way. Instead, I will just say, You’re all amazing! If I had to do my life over, I would pick you all again in a heartbeat!

I would like to thank Dr. McEwan for helping me get well. You were instrumental in every step of the way. Thank you! I will always remember your kind smile and your classic phrase. After each session, you said, Go well. You should seriously consider never retiring because you are incredible at what you do!

I also want to thank my team at iUniverse. You guys are great. Thanks for helping me publish my first book. Thanks for being patient with me since I am a first-time author.

INTRODUCTION

I wrote this book thinking of you.

I’m not sure if it’s you or someone close to you who is suffering from clinical depression, anxiety, or bipolar II disorder, but I’m honored you picked up this copy. I decided ahead of time that if Life Is Worth Getting Better only helped you in any way, then it was well worth my time to write it.

I would like you to know; I am neither a doctor nor a therapist. I am just a regular mom who went through this and made it to the other side with the grace of God. I have no way of knowing all the answers to these terrible mental disorders.

This book is my story of how—with God’s help—I overcame clinical depression, anxiety, and bipolar II disorder.

You may argue that my story has nothing to do with your story. You might be right. However, the underlying challenges and struggles of depression, anxiety, and bipolar II disorder may be surprisingly familiar. Pain levels humanity. Suffering cannot distinguish your background, your age, or your credit score.

The purpose of this book is to encourage you or your loved one to find a treatment to get well. I would like you or your loved one to know that you too can make it. You can recover from these terrible sicknesses. I have an obligation to tell you that there is hope for you. You can get well. You need to know that there is still more life left in you to live!

The first chapters describe how I felt when we had moved to England in 2012. My depression hit an all-time low. Later I write about when I started to feel better once I started my treatment. My recovery was not a straight line. I had my ups and downs—just like everyone else.

At the end of this book, I include the different things that worked for me in my recovery. I hope you find them helpful.

My goal is simply to help you—even for a few steps—on your journey to recovery.

First, in the denial stage, you commonly assume that you must just be having a bad couple of weeks. You believe that before long, you are just going to get better. You forecast it will all go away as soon as you relax or have a less busy week at work.

Then, I will help you identify some of the issues that may be affecting your everyday life. Unfortunately, these illnesses affect your entire life. They inhibit daily activities, we would otherwise do effortlessly: working, studying, thinking straight, reading, driving, concentrating, eating, and sleeping.

These illnesses tarnish our social lives too. You are not yourself when you are sick. Your social life would naturally include being a parent (if you have kids). It can be challenging to take care of your children when you are not feeling up to par.

Most importantly, this book shares practical ways that may help you feel better and inspire you to look forward to being healthy again. You can enjoy your life as you used to. When you start feeling healthy again, you are going to laugh. The sound of your laughter will probably bring tears to your eyes. You will cherish your life as you have never before. It will be your second chance at living.

Your life is too precious just to give up. I know it may not seem that valuable to you right now. I have been there. I used to feel I had the lowest self-esteem. It seemed my life had passed me by. With my depression, I felt like I would not be able to accomplish anything ever again. I did not believe I was anyone special or that my life had any particular purpose.

Do not listen to those thoughts! They are not true. You have a great life ahead of you! If you have a pulse, then it is never too late. When you start to feel better, you will rise from the sadness and begin to shine again.

When you start to recover, you will begin to feel more joyful. You will become increasingly stronger emotionally. You will live without regrets or fear. You will be thankful you had a second chance at life and that you did not give up on yourself. You will enjoy all the things you used to like doing before you got sick.

I used to believe there was no relief from these terrible diseases, but you can recover. I did, and so have many others before me. I am sure you can too! You will get well if you decide that you want to work toward that goal.

Do you want to get well? It may seem like a crazy question, but when we learn to live with a sickness so long, we get comfortable with it. When we have had it for so long, we cannot remember what life looked like before we got sick.

If you decide to get well, it will not happen overnight. That would be unrealistic and quite unfair. It will not be easy, but you can do it!

Other people may volunteer to help you get well. Be thankful for family and real friends in your life who will do anything for you. Their prayers and love will heal your heart. You will find yourself thanking all of them someday.

However, I have to be honest with you. YOU are the only person who can decide to get well. Nobody else can do it for you. I have yet to meet anyone who outsourced his or her recovery!

You will get better