Mormon Bloggers

~by Cheryl Cheryl says this about herself: I was born to Canadian parents, raised in Idaho, and graduated from BYU. Since then, my home has been in Provo (except for one wonderful year in the Bay Area, California). I have one amazing husband (eleven years and counting), five fabulous kids, and although I struggle with depression, I seriously have one great life. I’m tall. I love. I write. It happens to me every winter: I forget what it is like to walk on the grass in my bare feet. My body recoils at the bitter cold and I content myself with a life indoors. Spring is far away, summer is a myth; only the memories of autumn linger in my mind. Come springtime, the memories of warmth will take hold and before summer arrives I will already be planning a hike, a picnic, an early morning walk. The irony is how repetitive the cycle tends to be. Over and over again I forget summer, only then to forget winter and cold during the hot August air. This is not quite unlike the ease in which I... Read the rest of this entry »

On January 12, 2010, and at 4:53 pm (Haitian Local Time), a magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated the nation of Haiti. A region being referred to as the poorest country in the Northern Hemisphere. The response to this catastrophe is phenomenal. Prior to this, on December 26, 2004, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake caused a Tsunami that [...]  Read More →

On January 12, 2010, and at 4:53 pm (Haitian Local Time), a magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated the nation of Haiti. A region being referred to as the poorest country in the Northern Hemisphere. The response to this catastrophe is phenomenal. Prior to this, on December 26, 2004, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake caused a Tsunami that [...]  Read More →

Question: “I suffer from chronic illness and depression and was put on disability because of it. In other words, I get sick very easily. A couple years ago I had endometrial cancer and the illness has grown worse this past year and 1/2 and the depression too. I recently lost my brother in November which hasn’t helped and living in Alaska and a non-supportive family and ward. Sometimes I don’t even dress until about 2 o’clock and do my housework then! I used to have all kinds of energy and be very social. I also have a bad foot and it hurts to even walk. I was hoping to move to Oregon so I could be in a climate with a lot less winter. The rent is so much cheaper than Alaska and I thought I could at least get a small house with a yard and a bicycle. I know a lot of my depression is from living in Alaska in a remote area with no a lot to do. Plus, I’ve had some people in the ward and area where I live who’ve not been so nice to me, including women living me stranded... Read the rest of this entry »

~By Jenny Hiroko is a great woman for us to profile this time of year. Her life is an example of making goals and accomplishing them in the midst of great trials. While Hiroko was raised by parents who were well-meaning, she felt throughout her childhood that she just didn’t measure up. This feeling affected every area of her life, but it especially impacted her relationship with food. Food was used as a means of control in her childhood home, as reward and punishment. During her childhood she was also haunted by depression which followed her throughout life, especially after the births of each of her 4 children. At her lowest point Hiroko weighed 218 pounds and was a size 24. It wasn’t just the weight that meant rock-bottom to her, that was just an outward sign of all that was afflicting her. For years she felt that the depression was her fault, feeling that if she exercised more, prayed more, ate less, or read her scriptures more that her depression would go away. After the birth... Read the rest of this entry »

Tagged: agony, anguish, art, emotion, photo, picture, sculpture, wordless wednesday  Read More →

The BBC has an  Interesting Article on how the economic crisis is leading to an emotional crisis in many men in the face of trouble providing for their families.  The report on a survey that found men are twice as likely currently to report having suicidal thoughts, half as likely to discuss their trouble with friends or family, and while experience mental health problems in roughly equal numbers with women, they go untreated far more often. This is interesting to me for several reasons.  The suffering goes on largely in silence.  Men don’t use health care in general to the extent that women do and they absolutely don’t use mental health care to the same extent.  One could look at this as evidence that women in our society are oppressed, if it suited their purpose.  You could argue that men are healthier because they are more free from the trap of poverty and childcare.  You could also be dead wrong.  This is a perfect example of how using mental health statistics to... Read the rest of this entry »

The BBC has an  Interesting Article on how the economic crisis is leading to an emotional crisis in many men in the face of trouble providing for their families.  The report on a survey that found men are twice as likely currently to report having suicidal thoughts, half as likely to discuss their trouble with friends or family, and while experience mental health problems in roughly equal numbers with women, they go untreated far more often. This is interesting to me for several reasons.  The suffering goes on largely in silence.  Men don’t use health care in general to the extent that women do and they absolutely don’t use mental health care to the same extent.  One could look at this as evidence that women in our society are oppressed, if it suited their purpose.  You could argue that men are healthier because they are more free from the trap of poverty and childcare.  You could also be dead wrong.  This is a perfect example of how using mental health statistics to... Read the rest of this entry »