Mental Health and Toxic Positivity

Reclaiming the Garden

Content warning: depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation. Please take care of yourself, we love y’all.

This episode is all about mental health (and we didn’t even realize May is Mental Health Awareness Month when we recorded it!). We discuss how the churches we grew up in did not equip us to deal with our depression and anxiety in a healthy way (“just pray and read the Bible and deal with the sin in your life, then you’ll be happy…our hardships in life are for the perfection of our faith”), and of course were actively involved in the repression of our sexualities which made matters worse. We speak openly about the emotional rollercoasters we’ve been on and how we’ve sought to heal. Therapy and medication have been vital to our thriving, and that is a beautiful thing that is not to be ashamed of–Jesus is our spiritual guide and our comfort in the midst of struggle, but he’s not a therapist, and medicine is a modern miracle, a form of grace.

Mental Health Resources

Trevor Project–for LGBTQ+ people, call or text: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/

Trans Lifeline [phone] https://translifeline.org/

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Resources on CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/tools-resources/individuals/index.htm

For teens and young adults: https://jedfoundation.org/

We have merch! Get your Bible Dyke Energy Tee or mug here: https://reclaiming-the-garden.creator-spring.com/

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter, and Reclaiming the Garden on Facebook. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!