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MENTAL HEALTH—THE REAL DEAL, PART 2

      In our last thrill-packed adventure, I brought up that one’s mental health is nothing to laugh off.  At the root of disruptions in one’s mental state can be found the following short list: Unforgiveness, Anger, Jealousy, Greed, Selfishness, Rebellion, and a rejection of God’s rules contained in the Scriptures.  One’s spiritual state often plays into one’s mental state.  Get the spiritual right through Jesus Christ and the Word of God, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly the sunshine can sweep away a cloudy mental day.

      However, there ARE those who would rather—or have been conned into thinking—that either self-medication, or legitimate drug prescriptions will make one’s mental condition ‘better’.  Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case.  At the risk of dating myself in terms of the years I served as a school teacher, I could remember that it took parental permission for the school nurse to give a teen an Aspirin in the school setting.  By the time I had left the teaching profession in the early 2010s, many school nurses had a medicine chest per each student that would make a pharmaceutical company rep envious.  As an aside, some students would pick up a little lunch money by selling their medications on the playground to other students.

      Let us be clear at this point. There are other mental issues that can cloud the mind…some of these issues are seldom discussed.  One of them, the stress that is caused when one person (be it a family member, a spouse, or a significant other) is trying to change some particular item of another person, and winds up deeply frustrated because the other person does NOT want to change! Folks, let’s be honest. There ARE some people who prefer to stay in their own mess and are quite comfortable in doing so.

      Another mental stressor involves folks who have changed ‘for the better’ and have quit destructive habits—but there ARE those who seem to prefer that the ‘new’ person would revert back to their old behaviors.  Some people—believe it or not—are more secure with a drunk who is a drunk, rather than a former drunk whom Jesus Christ has delivered from alcohol.  The Bible clearly states that a person who has been converted and been born again, is a NEW creature. The old has been put away by Christ and the person is brand new from the inside out (II Cor. 5:17 KJV).

      Another mental health minefield involves the matter of pride. I may have mentioned this matter before, but the 2024 elections brings this point home in a clearer fashion.  The Republicans won and the Democrats lost.  Many Democrats—now viewing life from the outside of the halls of power—have taken it upon themselves to ‘resist’.  Their pride was hurt; they could not believe that the American public had rejected their (lack of) policies, and they turned to opening the taps of anger, envy, unbelief and lawfare. Instead of accepting their losses and taking the time to rebuild their party (like Republicans have had to do on occasion), Democrats and their supporters in the mainstream mess and social media have taken their pride and used it as a club to make voters feel ‘guilty’ about liberating themselves from the ‘alphabet soup’ mafia who had four years of unleashing economic war against their voters under the guise of ‘we know what’s best for you’.

     A proud person is hard to reason with in the best of circumstances. A hurt proud person would rather burn the country to the ground rather than admit that—perhaps—they should have changed their policies to a more ‘voter friendly’ position.  After all, a political party that had as its platform: “We’re gonna raise your taxes and take more of your money,” is hardly a campaign starter—unless one is into political suicide.  But I digress.

      As I wrap this up, medication and therapy can do little against mental health issues which stem from the soul.  The real deal to get to the root of the problem and perhaps cut down the mental health problems arising from the soul? One must turn to Jesus Christ and His word and take a good look at themselves in the scriptures. If they make the choice NOT to do this will cause further mental health issues which could spill over into society.

      Just as is happening in our present day.

      AI is being marketed as the latest ‘miracle’ technology.  However, AI can’t get to the root of sin as well as the Bible.  It is still up to the individual to make the right choices in life.  AI is NOT able to choose for you.

      Mike Ramey is a Retired Minister, KJV Bible Teacher, syndicated columnist and Bible Prophecy Specialist who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.  “The Quick Scan” is one of a variety of his columns appearing and abounding in print and cyberspace, written from a biblical, business, and common-sense perspective since 1996.  Catch Mike Ramey’s columns on X (Twitter), Substack, Faithwriters.com, LinkedIn and in fine publications like this one!  To drop him a line—or a whine—the address is still the same: mgmikeramey@yahoo.com.  ©2025 Barnstorm Communications International.