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Description
What happens when faith and mental health intersect? On this journey, Johan Heinrichs and Wendi Park dive into the complexities of navigating bipolar disorder within a community of faith. Special guest Jadon shares his personal story of living with bipolar disorder type 1, highlighting the critical need for action-oriented support and advocacy. Wendi opens up about her own experiences, exploring the challenges and misconceptions around mental health and faith. Together, they emphasize the importance of destigmatization, seeking professional help, and the church's role in fostering a supportive, caring environment. This conversation blends personal anecdotes, biblical insights, and practical advice, aiming to create a safe and welcoming community for those living with mental health challenges.
Time Stamps
[06:08] Bipolar disorder affects diverse people, often genetically.
[07:58] God protected me, fueled my thirst for knowledge.
[12:44] Friend shows resilience despite possible depressive struggle.
[15:49] Bipolar diagnosis often misunderstood; proper recognition lacking.
[20:06] Challenging acceptance of chronic illness, seeking support.
[21:31] Support system helps navigate mental health challenges.
[24:26] Studying electrical engineering deepens worship through God.
[29:18] Advocate for yourself in the health system.
[33:34] Church supports mental health, encourage seeking help.
Episode Links
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Transcripts
What does loving your neighbor actually look like? This
Speaker:is Journey with Care, where curious Canadians get inspired to
Speaker:love others well through real life stories and honest
Speaker:conversations.
Speaker:Welcome to another episode of Journey with Care. We are in the midst of
Speaker:our series, differently wired in community.
Speaker:I'm Johan and I'm on with our co host, Wendi. Hello.
Speaker:And we have a special guest. We are actually bringing on my son-in-law, but before
Speaker:we introduce him, for those of you that have been following Journey with
Speaker:Prayer or wanna follow Journey with Prayer and take our episode
Speaker:content from the head to the heart, little 5 minute episodes once a
Speaker:week, to help you throughout your week, Head over
Speaker:to our show notes, or you can find it on your favorite
Speaker:podcast player, Journey with Prayer. Subscribe to that.
Speaker:So before we introduce our guest, Wendi, you wanted to recap our previous episodes
Speaker:that we've done here in this. Yeah. I'd love to. Differently wired
Speaker:in community, we've been discussing with a pastor from
Speaker:Calgary, Corinne Thomas. She did a beautiful introductory on
Speaker:her work in, special needs ministry and pastoring across
Speaker:diversities and different disorders and mental illness and looking at all
Speaker:the the exceptionalities that are very common within every church. And
Speaker:so if you haven't been following already, I encourage, listeners to go
Speaker:listen to that intro. And then last week, we had my husband, Harold
Speaker:Park, talk about autism in a personal way and also
Speaker:professionally as he is a psychotherapist. So when we're talking about
Speaker:differently wired in community, we're looking at all those exceptionalities that are
Speaker:common within the church. We often don't see it necessarily. Sometimes we
Speaker:do. Sometimes they're visible. But so often, there are
Speaker:exceptionalities that we cannot see. We're talking about different neurodiversities
Speaker:or disabilities and disorders, mental illness, things that we
Speaker:invite the church to consider as they make it
Speaker:welcoming and inclusive for all. And today, we're
Speaker:gonna be touching a topic about bipolar affective disorder.
Speaker:And with us in studio, we do have Jadon, and I'm so
Speaker:excited to have you in the podcast. You and I know each other through
Speaker:church, and I really appreciate you and your wife and and getting to
Speaker:know you well. And before we get started, I just wanna say we
Speaker:will be talking about some subjects that are a little weighty
Speaker:that we're talking about suicide and depression. And so these are
Speaker:considerations that might be triggering for you. I
Speaker:want to pre warn you, if you if you do wanna skip this episode,
Speaker:but I hope that you'll be inspired by this story as well. But if you
Speaker:are struggling with any of these things that may trigger you,
Speaker:I do urge you to find help for that. We will have a
Speaker:link in the show notes. And Actually,
Speaker:Canada has a national support line you can call. It's
Speaker:just simply 988 if you're struggling with that. Or if you know someone that's
Speaker:struggling with it, they will also take your call. So just wanted to have that
Speaker:trigger warning out there and that information. So, hey, Jadon. Why don't
Speaker:you talk about why we are having you on the podcast today? I mean, we
Speaker:said a little bit about it, but we'll let you use your words. Sure thing.
Speaker:I'm really happy to be invited here to join the podcast. I'm
Speaker:someone that many would consider to be highly successful. I graduated
Speaker:from electrical engineering with a gold medal across all disciplines.
Speaker:So that meant that I had the highest GPA across electrical, civil,
Speaker:mechanical, computer, all of them. Wow. And they received enough
Speaker:scholarships that more than paid for my tuition so that the university was actually paying
Speaker:me every year. And I got married right after I graduated
Speaker:to the love of my life, Danica, and we're coming up on 2 years being
Speaker:married. And after graduating, I joined Anchor Point Church
Speaker:about a year and a half ago, and I've also done teaching tracks on
Speaker:evangelism, pastoral care, and prophecy. And, also,
Speaker:this year in January, I was diagnosed with bipolar affective
Speaker:disorder type 1, and that was a significant shift
Speaker:in some of my identity, in helping me understand and work
Speaker:through this challenge with depression over the last 3 years or
Speaker:so. So some might might listen to
Speaker:your short biography there and say, wow. This
Speaker:guy has it together. He's got living the life. He's got education.
Speaker:He's got a wife. He's getting all these scholarships, and things can look
Speaker:so beautiful on the outside. And yet how long have
Speaker:you been struggling with this bipolar, or was it just
Speaker:recently coming up, or is it something that you have
Speaker:been living with for a while? For sure. And just
Speaker:a a bit of explanation with bipolar because in society, we
Speaker:don't really talk about it that much. When I was diagnosed with it, didn't
Speaker:know much. I had to do a lot of learning. It's something that is
Speaker:biological, but it can also be shaped a bit by your environment growing
Speaker:up. However, it's not as though someone could catch bipolar
Speaker:disorder, you know, if they're out in the rain too long. So it is a
Speaker:biological thing. My brain is shaped differently and has different,
Speaker:amounts of gray matter in parts. So it's a challenging thing that
Speaker:also doesn't usually develop and start showing up until later in
Speaker:life in, like, the adult years. So with that, I would say
Speaker:since about definitely COVID, exacerbated it, but I
Speaker:was noticing it before COVID primarily at the beginning of
Speaker:every semester. I would have extreme stress and be
Speaker:depressed for a couple weeks, not leading to suicidal ideation,
Speaker:but it was just really hard to deal with that. So, Jadon, looking back
Speaker:on your life, how far back can you actually look to see where there were
Speaker:some emerging signs of bipolar? I think I could see a little
Speaker:bit in 2015, just after I turned 18, and I
Speaker:went and did a Bible college, and I did it during the night. And,
Speaker:and with that, my sleep was all over the place, and that's one of
Speaker:the really big factors with managing bipolar is making sure that you have a
Speaker:proper sleep and getting enough. So the fact that my mood was
Speaker:quite low for quite a portion of that and trying to make decisions
Speaker:or or manage that was really challenging. Yeah. And I'm glad
Speaker:that you explained a little bit, educated me a little bit on the
Speaker:biology of it, but also sometimes the circumstances that bring
Speaker:it about. And I think that is very common for that to
Speaker:be noticed around 18 and to your your twenties. That
Speaker:is often when people discover these things,
Speaker:these exceptionalities about themselves, and
Speaker:it really doesn't hit a certain demographic, really. It it can
Speaker:affect so many different people in all kinds of professions,
Speaker:all kinds of walks of life, and often can be traced, through
Speaker:family. I know people in my family that have been affected by it and
Speaker:live with it, and it can be traced biologically as well. Can you give us
Speaker:a little bit more understanding of bipolar
Speaker:effectiveness? Or I know we're not gonna give a clinical definition. People can go
Speaker:do their research. But, looking at particularly
Speaker:the highs and the lows that you were talking about, what does it look
Speaker:like to be in that depressive state? What does it look like to be in
Speaker:that manic state? Can you help us understand what are you
Speaker:experiencing in both of those those levels?
Speaker:Absolutely. For me, I ended up experiencing much more on the
Speaker:depressive side rather than on the manic side. For those who aren't familiar with the
Speaker:term, manic is like the really high high. So that would be kind
Speaker:of depicted in a movie as someone who's really happy and
Speaker:energetic and not sleeping, but also making really bad
Speaker:decisions. They're wanting to seek risk, going to casinos,
Speaker:driving fast on the freeway, a very dangerous activity.
Speaker:Yeah. There can be some impulsivity tied to that. Right? And kinda
Speaker:grandiose thinking of just like, I'm gonna conquer the world, and I've got
Speaker:this. Mhmm. I did experience that once. And what that
Speaker:was like for me was honestly one of the happiest moments
Speaker:of my life. Tell me about it. I would say God protected me from
Speaker:it in a unique way where my fix for it, what I was really
Speaker:aiming for was just learning things. That was
Speaker:what made me feel so excited and alive. It wasn't getting in the car
Speaker:and driving fast or winning money at the slot machine. I went
Speaker:to the library and if Danica hadn't stopped me I think I would have bought
Speaker:about 12 different books and all sorts of random things. I was like I can
Speaker:learn it all and I could take information in, though,
Speaker:incredibly quickly. I stayed up all night, and God helped me
Speaker:figure out my entire master's thesis in electrical engineering in a new way,
Speaker:like a new breakthrough in, like, the middle of the night. And it just came
Speaker:to me. Information was just flowing, and it was exciting. I felt alive,
Speaker:and it even merged into my prayer time with God. I
Speaker:encountered him in a new way at new levels of joy and
Speaker:depth. Mhmm. However, for those on the outside, I
Speaker:wasn't quite myself, and I was a lot less fun to be around.
Speaker:In what way? That sounds like kind of fun. But, I was like,
Speaker:the grandiose part of it. I was very focused on myself,
Speaker:very impatient with others, not really caring about them as much. I thought
Speaker:I was the most important person in the world. So you were
Speaker:kinda caught up in your own world of euphoria in in that sense.
Speaker:Mhmm. And would that contribute to how well you have done
Speaker:academically in your high achievements? Is that part
Speaker:of what drove you? For some people.
Speaker:Though for me, I only experienced that once, and it was actually because of a
Speaker:medication I took. So that wasn't part of my consistent journey Okay. With
Speaker:bi polar. On this side of depression, though, the way I
Speaker:would describe it was it wasn't as though depression for me
Speaker:looked significantly different for others. You know, I was
Speaker:lethargic. I didn't wanna go out with people. Things weren't as fun as they used
Speaker:to be. I wanted to sleep more, lack of appetite, all the normal
Speaker:things. Though what triggered it though
Speaker:felt completely random. Mhmm. You know? So if you think of maybe
Speaker:someone, like a young kid, and if the friend moves away, they would be pretty
Speaker:sad about that. That would be hard. You might not quite say they're depressed,
Speaker:but they would have those types of feelings. But it would make sense. Or if
Speaker:there's a family member who died, it would be understandable for them to be
Speaker:grieving and for them to be experiencing depression.
Speaker:But for me, what I experienced was the success,
Speaker:everything in my life pretty much has gone so well.
Speaker:People liked me. I was loved. You know, I've known Jesus my whole
Speaker:life. And then out of the blue, depression.
Speaker:And more than depression, they went to, I wanna end my
Speaker:life. And, woah, where did that come from? It never made
Speaker:sense. So when you're in that depressive
Speaker:state, how did you make sense of your spirituality?
Speaker:You've known God since you were little and Jesus' joy and,
Speaker:just pray more. Are there are there certain things that you had to fight or
Speaker:other people you had to fight other people in in sort of these cliche
Speaker:responses to your own depression. What was that experience
Speaker:like, making sense of your faith in depression? That's
Speaker:something that I gained clarity on and healing with God
Speaker:after the fact. After the bipolar got under
Speaker:control and got the diagnosis and that. During it, I
Speaker:was really willing to try anything because things didn't
Speaker:work. I would kind of see it as like a storm that could just come
Speaker:back at any time, and I'd be robbed of joy. And joy was even
Speaker:one of the things that's been spoken over me consistently since
Speaker:I was, like, a baby. I've experienced joy. People say, oh,
Speaker:you have an amazing smile. Like, I've just been marked by joy
Speaker:on one hand, and on the other hand, I have random bouts of
Speaker:depression where I can't hear God, feel him, connect
Speaker:with him, and I'm wanting, you know, just to curl away
Speaker:and not doing anything, which is, like, the opposite of what God has called me
Speaker:to do. And that was it was a struggle. And the things that I tried
Speaker:was practicing gratitude, you know, commanding,
Speaker:you know, demons or, like, thoughts that aren't from God to leave. I
Speaker:went actually at my previous church to go get deliverance from
Speaker:demons, and repenting and all the things there,
Speaker:which was hard afterwards because I thought, okay, I did it.
Speaker:It's gonna be gone now. Right? It's this time, it's gonna work for sure.
Speaker:And it was for a little bit, and then it came back. And and
Speaker:no doubt god can heal and deliver from mental health just like he can
Speaker:deliver from a tumor and all kinds of things, and and that doesn't take away
Speaker:from the the sovereignty of God. But you
Speaker:you hit on something very important, though, that being
Speaker:in a depressive state doesn't mean you're far from God. In fact, God
Speaker:is near the brokenhearted. Right? Mhmm. And it's not necessarily
Speaker:a a demonic thing per se, but it can be a health
Speaker:issue that in our depressive state,
Speaker:God is there with us, and he is with you
Speaker:in in helping you through it. But I have to say, Jadon, and I know
Speaker:we haven't known each other for years, but every time I've
Speaker:met you, interacted with you, you've been to our house, and and we've
Speaker:been at church together, you do not come across as
Speaker:a very depressive person. You do, whether it's just practicing,
Speaker:joy in these moments or having to wear a
Speaker:mask. I don't know, and I'm not judging you for either of them. What
Speaker:it tells me, though, and and it's something that for listeners to pay attention
Speaker:to, we don't always know the person's going through the valley of the shadow of
Speaker:death even though they're sitting right beside us and we're having conversations together. You've
Speaker:been very transparent with me. I know it because you told me, and
Speaker:you have been walking through that transparently. But just to see you,
Speaker:Jadon, you do not come across as a depressive person. Do you
Speaker:think there's more people like you within the church, in society
Speaker:that are, like, hidden in plain sight? Absolutely.
Speaker:I ended up spoiler alert. The way I got my bipolar,
Speaker:diagnosis was that I ended up in the psych ward for about 10
Speaker:days. And during that time, I met another individual who
Speaker:thought he just had depression for 10 years, and
Speaker:he then found out he has bipolar disorder because he also ended up in the
Speaker:psych ward. And for both of us, it was such a
Speaker:relief and so life changing that we weren't to
Speaker:blame for our low states. This person wasn't a Christian,
Speaker:and in the psych ward in Winnipeg, there is nothing to do.
Speaker:You can maybe watch a TV, and that's about it. So we
Speaker:just walked laps and laps and laps and shared our stories
Speaker:and encouragements for one another, and god reached out to
Speaker:us. There was someone that we both needed, you know, each other there
Speaker:in the psych ward able to talk about bipolar and how it was
Speaker:so challenging thinking it was depression, but finding out it was something
Speaker:else that caused depression because the regular medication didn't
Speaker:treat it. The normal things to treat depression didn't
Speaker:really have the same effect because with bipolar disorder,
Speaker:the primary way to treat it is with medication. Mhmm. And
Speaker:then there is obviously different therapies that can help with that, But the
Speaker:first line of defense isn't talk therapy, and that
Speaker:was new to me. Yeah. No. And I think that's important. And that's part
Speaker:of destigmatizing what bipolar is all about as
Speaker:well. That it's okay to take medication and to seek
Speaker:professional help, and there's no shame in that. In fact, if
Speaker:I had diabetes, I would want a a
Speaker:doctor to give me insulin. Right? And knowing
Speaker:what you know now that there's medication, I think that is
Speaker:so helpful. Are there some things that prevented you from
Speaker:getting diagnosed sooner from getting the professional help? What were
Speaker:some barriers that you had to overcome to say, doctor,
Speaker:I need help? Yeah. I think the challenge that I faced was similar
Speaker:for many who get diagnosed is that we don't
Speaker:generally know ourselves, and our general practitioners
Speaker:also aren't trained in recognizing bipolar. You know,
Speaker:partly they're not observing you enough to see, you know, is this
Speaker:your normal highs or your lows? And bipolar
Speaker:depression looks just like normal depression, though it usually leads to
Speaker:some suicidal ideation which just looks like bad depression, so
Speaker:they treat it that way. So I didn't know. My doctor didn't
Speaker:know. And it was only when things started getting really serious
Speaker:in terms of my actions and how long I was having suicidal
Speaker:ideations and having a manic episode that they clued in and thought
Speaker:it might, but it's not something that's easily
Speaker:recognizable. Like I said, my friend in the psych ward, he
Speaker:went to see his doctor and getting medication and some therapy for
Speaker:10 years, getting the wrong diagnosis.
Speaker:So maybe there is a role right there what you've identified. Those closest
Speaker:to you could probably identify it sooner. Because when you're in a manic or
Speaker:in a very depressive state, you're not necessarily cognizant of that
Speaker:euphoria or that that same depressive state that and seeing those
Speaker:patterns. Was there a way that Danica, your wife,
Speaker:was instrumental or other people in the community if they were
Speaker:educated? And and I have talked with Danica. She's lovely,
Speaker:and she's joining our team actually in trauma care training. We're so excited.
Speaker:So I know she's educated, but are there other people in the community if we
Speaker:were educated better that we would have been able to lovingly
Speaker:been supportive in that journey towards understanding this diagnosis
Speaker:and supporting you to get help earlier before it got so bad?
Speaker:It's a little hard to say. I don't wanna put all the pressure on, you
Speaker:know, those around you to be recognizing and looking for warning
Speaker:signs of serious mental, health issues.
Speaker:Though I think it might be easier to recognize manic
Speaker:episodes rather than the depressive episodes, because manic isn't
Speaker:common to other types of mental health issues.
Speaker:It's more so linked for bipolar, and it's pretty obvious when
Speaker:someone is having those. You know, they might be exercising 5
Speaker:times a day. They might be not sleeping for like 2 weeks, you know, and
Speaker:they have high energy. You can tell when someone is manic. Mhmm. But with with
Speaker:a depression, people often pull back. So
Speaker:you might not see them in your regular social outings because they might be
Speaker:at home lying down on the couch. They probably aren't wanting to see
Speaker:people. So for that, I think the close friends have a
Speaker:better chance of seeing it rather than a particular person in a
Speaker:group. Mhmm. I know I've experienced both extremes
Speaker:as a father-in-law and you coming over all the time. But when you mentioned
Speaker:something about people getting more educated, being able to support you a
Speaker:little bit better, what I found is once you got that diagnosis is
Speaker:you really went after the information yourself to educate
Speaker:yourself on your own diagnosis, and you've been very open about
Speaker:sharing that information so that those supporting you, those around you
Speaker:can support you as well. Can you take me to that
Speaker:moment you heard the diagnosis? What were some of the feelings that were coming
Speaker:out for you and some of the thoughts? Yeah. For me, I had a little
Speaker:bit of a 2 part with that. One was in September
Speaker:2023 when I had a manic episode which happened because I
Speaker:tried a different antidepressant. So that one took me from a depressive state,
Speaker:and it took me up and up and up, and then I went into this
Speaker:manic episode and I had all this energy. I talked to my regular doctor
Speaker:about that, and she said, I think you have bipolar, but I can't
Speaker:diagnose you with it because I'm not trained in that. She's not qualified to do
Speaker:it. So then I thought, okay. I think I have this, but maybe
Speaker:it'll be managed. Then, in
Speaker:January 2024 of this year, when I was in the psych
Speaker:ward, you know, for attempted suicide, I
Speaker:heard the diagnosis. I thought, okay. Yep. I probably have bipolar.
Speaker:And, you know, the psychologist there said, you know, okay. You have bipolar
Speaker:affective disorder type 1. It felt like a punch in the
Speaker:gut. It was so hard to hear because as she talked about
Speaker:it, I realized this isn't something that's gonna go away.
Speaker:Mhmm. It's not like a bad headache where you take some
Speaker:Advil and then the pain goes away and you're fine and it's no
Speaker:longer there. The medication doesn't heal you, it
Speaker:manages it. And that was really hard to hear that I'm going to have this
Speaker:for the rest of my life. I thought, can I be a good dad? Can
Speaker:I can I be a husband? You know, if if a baby's up in the
Speaker:middle of the night, how am I gonna manage my sleep, and what's it going
Speaker:to look like? It really felt overwhelming at first. Though
Speaker:it also brought, like I said before, a lot of freedom from the fact
Speaker:that what happened to me and what I experienced wasn't my
Speaker:fault. It wasn't because of lack of character. It wasn't because
Speaker:of lack of faith or, you know, not willing to try things
Speaker:or let people in. It was a biological factor
Speaker:that really shaped my experiences. And
Speaker:when I went to see a nurse practitioner later, she had words of such
Speaker:great hope. She said, you can live a long life and fulfilled one
Speaker:with bipolar. We'll have the medication. We'll treat, you know, the
Speaker:symptoms. She's like, we have people in their eighties. We have people who are
Speaker:traveling, who can do anything. It's not going to restrict you. You
Speaker:can be a dad. And that was so it just gave me
Speaker:so much hope for it. So as someone that has done the research,
Speaker:how important is that support system around you to help
Speaker:you to get to those eighties and and really thrive?
Speaker:I think it's really critical. Even in the beginning,
Speaker:like, if you could have someone walk with you to a doctor's
Speaker:appointment. For a lot of people, including myself, that was scary.
Speaker:You know, even sitting with you in a waiting room if you're gonna go see
Speaker:a counselor and as you're exploring different options, you
Speaker:know, I told Danica, if you weren't there with me in September, I would not
Speaker:have gone on meds. You know, growing up the grip a little bit
Speaker:more fundamentalist in Christianity, and I was more opposed
Speaker:to medication as it related to mental health. But now that I've
Speaker:gone there and, you know, God has been so good in leading me in
Speaker:that and having a support system around me. It's been great where I
Speaker:don't feel like I'm leaning on them all the time, but I know they're there
Speaker:if I'm having a hard day or if it's becoming a hard week or something
Speaker:else is going on. I feel comfortable reaching out and asking for help saying,
Speaker:hey, you know, can you spend the evening with me or I'm, you know, can
Speaker:you check-in with me during this time? And, you know, being able
Speaker:to project into the years ahead, it's
Speaker:crucial because medication on its own isn't
Speaker:the full story. Community is vital. Yeah. And and I
Speaker:appreciate, Jadon, your approach in destigmatizing
Speaker:really what we often don't understand. We often fear
Speaker:what we don't understand. But by you creating greater knowledge for
Speaker:yourself and for those around you and bringing transparency, not
Speaker:only does it destigmatize bipolar and that you can have you
Speaker:have a bright hope and a future. God's plans weren't just for those that didn't
Speaker:have bipolar. It's for for everyone. Those promises are
Speaker:true, but it also drops the mask,
Speaker:and it is a service to others because now you're
Speaker:inviting me to drop my mask. I might not be
Speaker:struggling with bipolar, but I might have other things in areas in my
Speaker:life that I'm wrestling through, whether it's doubts or health
Speaker:issues or mental health issues. You were making it safe for the
Speaker:community to be themselves, which I think is a gift
Speaker:that often goes unnoticed. And what we need more
Speaker:in our society is people that will be authentic and
Speaker:journeying with. It's a two way street. You're not just trying to to
Speaker:to get everybody's sympathy, but you're saying, look. I'm dealing with this, but you've
Speaker:been always so helpful as well. And I I really appreciate that about
Speaker:you, Jayden. Thank you. So, Jadon, I know you
Speaker:have a a rich professional background in studying.
Speaker:One would say you're a professional student, and you're you're probably always gonna be
Speaker:that student that is always eager to learn. You have so many,
Speaker:credentials behind your name as you're building it out and still
Speaker:studying. How do you see the profession and and
Speaker:your training dovetailing into your calling that God has put on
Speaker:your life? Where do you see yourself being part of the body of Christ
Speaker:and and enriching the body of Christ and the greater society?
Speaker:Where do you see yourself? Yeah. You know, so in electrical
Speaker:engineering and and what I've studied, one of the things that
Speaker:I prayed for and talked to God about a lot was
Speaker:I want what I study and learning more about it
Speaker:to be more fuel for the worship I have for you. You know,
Speaker:if I knew that God created the world, then for a certain
Speaker:measure, I can praise him for what he has done and love him for that.
Speaker:And when I find out how God made the world, it's
Speaker:just so much more rich and it's just time of, like, God, you made
Speaker:these mathematical equations and this physics to work.
Speaker:And I experienced a measure of that in my undergraduate degree.
Speaker:But in my master's degree, as I'm studying now and continuing on maybe
Speaker:into my PhD, it's just like it's exploded. And I get to
Speaker:have this rich time with God where I talk with him about
Speaker:electrical engineering problems, which really boil down
Speaker:to how can we use our knowledge to help society
Speaker:solve problems. It's not us do you know, just doing our own thing with circuits
Speaker:and stuff. We have, you know, purposes for that. Helping right now
Speaker:with grain carts that I'm, you know, helping to design, improve that for
Speaker:farmers which then goes into the helping the food
Speaker:production in our province. And dovetailing that and
Speaker:dovetailing that into how I can help others, I think I'm becoming more
Speaker:comfortable learning lots of different things and saying, how can I help?
Speaker:You know, I have a background in electrical engineering, but I've gotten real good at
Speaker:learning lots of different things along the way and and how to do so.
Speaker:So if someone's needing help, you know, fixing a little pick scooter, I thought, I
Speaker:can learn that. We'll we'll find out and see what how that can happen.
Speaker:And even, you know, my father-in-law, Johan, he had his couch, the the
Speaker:side thing that you pulled on that wasn't working, and it wasn't working for a
Speaker:while. And he said, hey. Like, what if we, like, took a look at it?
Speaker:Or do you know anything about that? I said, no. But let's, you know, look
Speaker:at it, open it up, and see what's going on. And we found out the
Speaker:part, looked up the part, got it. Works great now. I even helped him fix
Speaker:his bass guitar, and I know nothing about bass guitars.
Speaker:But being able to just just apply that I can learn
Speaker:things, and I'm willing and I'm happy to help in the body of
Speaker:Christ also going through so many struggles
Speaker:and experiencing and having the thoughts and even having suicide
Speaker:attempts multiple times. I am not phased
Speaker:by that sort of talk at all. So if someone is a little
Speaker:nervous about sharing that, I come without judgment, you know,
Speaker:without blame. And if they're wanting to talk about that and, you know,
Speaker:process it, I can be someone for them. You know, it's a really
Speaker:touchy thing I know in the church to even bring up. But with those experiences
Speaker:and having Danica and other family members be there for me time
Speaker:after time, it's helped to equip me just to have those
Speaker:conversations and to love them in it with firsthand experience.
Speaker:And that's something that's so needed in the church is more openness in
Speaker:this area because we've not talked about it for so many years,
Speaker:and thank goodness for courses like Sanctuary Mental Health course that
Speaker:we've mentioned, how they're opening up the conversation in the church
Speaker:because, really, God has called the church to care for
Speaker:those dealing with mental health. Mhmm. God's called us to be the solution
Speaker:in in raising them up and be in a community around them so that
Speaker:they can thrive and they can build up the body of Christ around them and
Speaker:contribute in in significant ways. And and your ability
Speaker:to research and innovate, like, we need that in the
Speaker:body of Christ, and you happen to have bipolar disorder.
Speaker:Yeah. I I look at you, Jayden, and you are not
Speaker:a project to be fixed, to be healed.
Speaker:You are a brother in Christ with rich gifts and
Speaker:calling and ability. Most pastors can't fix a lot of things,
Speaker:let's just say. They're they're pastoring for a reason and not an engineering
Speaker:track, but we need the engineers in the church as well, both within the
Speaker:church and the functioning of of the operations of the church, but also
Speaker:in community that we have assets and abilities to
Speaker:contribute to the greater society, that we are the church in
Speaker:community. There's so much valuable things that you
Speaker:bring to the body of Christ, and you have bipolar. That's
Speaker:not just like a, oh, that's just a kind of a demerit on you.
Speaker:That is you are just made in the image of Christ. We all have certain
Speaker:things that we have to to get help for and and get supported
Speaker:for, and we need it in community, but you're bringing all of you. What would
Speaker:you like to tell other people that maybe aren't even
Speaker:diagnosed, but maybe they're they're prompted to get diagnoses now or
Speaker:seek attention for, or maybe they do
Speaker:have bipolar affective disorder and are wanting to
Speaker:integrate into greater society in their church, are there some
Speaker:tips or some advice that you would give other people as
Speaker:they're walking through it? The first tip I would like to give, and
Speaker:it's a bit of an uncomfortable one, especially for me because I don't like to
Speaker:have a loud voice, you will need to advocate for yourself, most likely in
Speaker:the health care system. It's not to say that you're not valued. We
Speaker:know that there are a lot of stressors on it and not enough people to
Speaker:help. So if you don't feel like, you know, you're getting the right care
Speaker:or potentially if you're on medication and you feel like it's not working,
Speaker:you need to advocate. And 1 the first thing I would recommend for
Speaker:that is to talk it over with someone and maybe even bring them along with
Speaker:you just as some emotional support, just as someone maybe to body
Speaker:double with you saying, okay, I'm gonna ask my doctor to change the
Speaker:medication, or I'm gonna ask and say, hey. I think I might have this. What
Speaker:are your thoughts? And the second one would be to seek out
Speaker:information on what you think you might have and to explore it a bit. You
Speaker:know, I wanna encourage you that just by looking up some of these things, you're
Speaker:not gonna accidentally catch it. You know, if you're sad and you think, oh my
Speaker:gosh, I am gonna catch the bipolar. It doesn't work that way. You
Speaker:can look up what the different terms are, what different
Speaker:types of therapy there is. And also, having a
Speaker:diagnosis or maybe seeking that doesn't change who you
Speaker:are. It doesn't change your identity. It can give a lot of
Speaker:explanation for what you've experienced. And most of
Speaker:the time, because we live in the wonderful world that God has made
Speaker:and we have incredible people working in the health care system,
Speaker:there is help and there is hope for you, you know, and in the
Speaker:church as well, in community. One of the things, just as a
Speaker:bit of a story to encourage people. So I was
Speaker:married for a year and a half, went into the psych ward, and
Speaker:Danica and I were apart for the first time, and we were apart for 10
Speaker:days. I was forced to stay there. I chose to, but
Speaker:I was forced to stay there. I couldn't leave. And
Speaker:immediately, someone in our church that I had mentioned it
Speaker:to and trusted, immediately he said, okay. Do you guys want
Speaker:DoorDash, SkipTheDishes, or Uber? Like, what do you need for food?
Speaker:And I thought maybe he would send, you know, $50 or something. This
Speaker:person, I think, sent 2 or $300 to
Speaker:make sure that Danica wouldn't have to worry about making food while I was there.
Speaker:Another family, they had Danica over. They let her sleep there to
Speaker:to give the comfort that she needed because I had all the medical care I
Speaker:needed. But Danica also had needs as well. And seeing the
Speaker:church just rise to that and love us so well was
Speaker:incredible to see. That's beautiful. And and
Speaker:I think that is something that we can take to heart, when we
Speaker:notice other people going through hardship is to take
Speaker:action on that and not asking, let me know if you have anything you
Speaker:need. Just saying, we know you need to eat. Mhmm. So, therefore, tell
Speaker:me what kind of food you want, what kind of services is it that you
Speaker:you could utilize. And I think that's a great example. And
Speaker:you you talked earlier, and you just spoke of
Speaker:advocating for yourself and or finding others to
Speaker:advocate for you and to come alongside, and I think that's what we see in
Speaker:scripture often. The leper or or the the
Speaker:person that is going through hardship touching the the edge of his
Speaker:garments, of Jesus' garments. But then we also see
Speaker:the story of the friends of the paralytic taking the
Speaker:stretcher and bringing him through the roof. They advocated for the health and
Speaker:and the well-being of of their friend, and I think there's a lot we can
Speaker:learn today. It's not a fable of of bible stories,
Speaker:a flanograph Jesus. It's here and now in our pews,
Speaker:down the street, on the bus, next door neighbors.
Speaker:These are our people that we advocate for. These are the people we
Speaker:listen to when they're saying, are you really okay?
Speaker:How is it going? And getting beyond the the fake, I'm fine. You're
Speaker:fine. You know? Canadianisms that we we tend to to
Speaker:rehearse very well from childhood. Now we're coming close to the end of
Speaker:our episode here, but, Jadon, before we end, you talked about how the
Speaker:church really rose up to support you and Danica in that in that
Speaker:difficult time. But what are some of the gaps? What are some areas in
Speaker:the church that you you think the church can be more inclusive
Speaker:and more supportive with individuals dealing with mental health
Speaker:conditions? I think with that, I wanna start off by saying
Speaker:I love the church. The church is, you know, the body of
Speaker:Christ, and they get to be his witness and his image bearers on the earth,
Speaker:and I'm part of the church, And there is much healing that God can
Speaker:bring through the church, healing of mental health, healing of
Speaker:diseases, healing of loneliness, and all sorts of things.
Speaker:And I also wanna say that there is a time and a
Speaker:place to seek medical help. You know, if someone broke
Speaker:their arm or had a really bad cut, they would probably
Speaker:go to the emergency room and we wouldn't fault them for that. In the
Speaker:same way, though, if someone was struggling with depression or other types
Speaker:of mental health problems, I wouldn't want the church to stigmatize
Speaker:them to go see a doctor, to go see a counselor, to go see
Speaker:a therapist. And I think if pastors or leaders, we're
Speaker:open to speaking about that from the pulpit
Speaker:in the front, you know, in the same way that they are able to talk
Speaker:about finances and how to navigate relationships and
Speaker:other difficult topics. If they're able to say that it is
Speaker:okay to get medical help, to help destigmatize
Speaker:that, would go a long way. Because I know for myself,
Speaker:like, I pushed and pushed and pushed back against even taking
Speaker:antidepressants, let alone right now I'm on 4 kinds of
Speaker:medication. And medication might not be the route for everyone,
Speaker:but I think leaders in the church have the ability
Speaker:and the opportunity to remove that stigma, to say your brains
Speaker:may be wired differently. That's okay. There may be
Speaker:biological factors coming into play here. This is not
Speaker:a statement of your lack of faith or character or trust
Speaker:in God or any of those things, but to make it easy
Speaker:for people to get the help they need and from the people who
Speaker:are trained to help in that area. That's really good, Jadon.
Speaker:I think it's time we wrap up though. So, Jadon, just to end this off,
Speaker:do you have any last words here that you'd like to share with our fellow
Speaker:sojourners here on the Journey With Care podcast? I wanna share
Speaker:and loudly say that Jesus is so
Speaker:kind in the area of mental health. One
Speaker:of the things that happened to me after I got a bipolar diagnosis was and
Speaker:it was during a time of prayer. I had this vision with Jesus where he
Speaker:was on a boat. You know, I was on the boat with him. And I
Speaker:was like, awesome. We're on a boat. And then it was wavy and stormy.
Speaker:And I hate the storm. I never wanted to be in this, you
Speaker:know, storm in the boat. It was terrifying. And but
Speaker:Jesus looked to me and he said, do you trust me? And I
Speaker:said, I don't know. I think I do. I wanna trust you, but I
Speaker:don't know. And then he responded to his own question,
Speaker:and he said, Jadon, you do trust me Because when you couldn't
Speaker:hear me, you chose me. When you couldn't feel me,
Speaker:you loved me. When you couldn't see the way forward, you still trusted
Speaker:me. You walked the paths of righteousness when you couldn't see a
Speaker:way forward. And that to me brought so much healing
Speaker:That god saw all the things I went through and he was
Speaker:so kind. He has the best words to say to us
Speaker:in our times of struggle And when we can't hear, like,
Speaker:there is so much hope. Yeah. Well and and Jesus
Speaker:said, in this world, you will have troubles.
Speaker:Take hold. For I've overcome the world, and he is with
Speaker:you in the storm. And I and I'm so encouraged to hear that from you,
Speaker:Jadon, knowing the journey that you have been on
Speaker:that preaches. And there are many people going through a variety
Speaker:of struggles, but god is with you in the
Speaker:storm. Well, this has been an inspiring episode. Thank you so much,
Speaker:Jadon, for coming on to the podcast, and I am excited for the the
Speaker:upcoming guests that we do have coming, so stay tuned. There are many
Speaker:episodes to come as we learn to embrace those differently
Speaker:wired in community.
Speaker:Thank you for joining another conversation on Journey with Care, where
Speaker:we inspire curious Canadians on their path of faith and
Speaker:living life with purpose in community. Journey with Care is an
Speaker:initiative of Care Impact, a Canadian charity to
Speaker:connecting and equipping the whole church to journey well in community.
Speaker:You can visit their website at careimpact.ca or visit journeywithcare.ca
Speaker:to get more information on weekly episodes, Journey with Prayer, and
Speaker:details about our upcoming events and meetups. You can also leave
Speaker:us a message, share your thoughts, and connect with like minded
Speaker:individuals who are on their own journeys of faith and purpose.
Speaker:Thank you for sharing this podcast and helping these stories reach the
Speaker:community. Together, we can explore ways to journey in a good way.
Speaker:And always remember to stay curious.
