St. James' Episcopal Church - Potomac 301-762-8040 office@stjamespotomac.org
Is Watching the News Bad for Your Mental Health?

Is Watching the News Bad for Your Mental Health?

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I think you will all agree that the topic Brian found for our conversation this week: “Is Watching the new News Bad for Your Mental  Health” is very timely. We are inundated with 24-hour news circle so the question is how much news are we consuming and how is it affecting our mental health? The article below discusses how consuming too much news can impact our mental health and then offers some tips on how to manage our news intake.
There is no video this week and so I don’t have to worry about screen sharing, Yay! As you read the article below, take note of the many tips provided and come prepared to share your personal experiences. Let’s learn from each other and stay Stronger Together.

For our warmup question, please come prepared to talk about “The Best Book you have ever read.”

I look forward to seeing most, if not all of you on Thursday.

Sampson

Knitting for Mental Health

Knitting for Mental Health

Hello everyone.

This evening, we will discuss things that we have found that seem to help our mental health, so that we might get some tips from each other.  To start our conversation, we will watch a video:

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/boston/news/knitting-third-piece-massachusetts-mental-health/

To start our meeting, we will discuss an ice breaker question: “What type of clothing represents the way you are feeling right now?”

See you all soon!

In Christ,

James

Taking a Mental Health Day from Work

Taking a Mental Health Day from Work

Hello everyone.

This Thursday, at Stronger Together, I would like to suggest that we begin with a discussion question: “Describe a time when you remember feeling relaxed or at peace.”

Then for the mental health discussion, I would like to facilitate us talking about “Mental Health Days,” using this brief news article about a school district in central Texas as a starting point.

Remember that you are loved, and we hope to see you on Thursday evening. You are not alone; we are stronger together.

In Christ,

James

Prescribing Happiness

Prescribing Happiness

Hello good people of God.

Tomorrow evening, we will join together for another session of Stronger Together.

The opening ice-breaker question that we will discuss is, “What is a song that makes you feel like dancing?”

We will then discuss this short article and its implications for our well-being, society’s well-being, and what we are about at church with the Mental Health Ministries:
Prescribing Happiness.

Remember: God loves you and we love you, and we will be delighted to see you tomorrow.  You are not alone; we are stronger together.

In Christ,

James

(The Rev. James Isaacs, Assistant Rector)

The Diversity of Mental Illness Experiences

The Diversity of Mental Illness Experiences

Hello friends,

It’s tempting to think of mental illness in terms of diagnoses, and to some extent it makes sense to do so. After all, by necessity there are commonalities in how people experience clinical depression or any other named health outcome. The problem is that there are wide ranges of experiences “within” a diagnosis; how one person experiences and recovers from clinical depression can be dramatically different from the next person.

This is yet another reason why it’s so important to anchor our understanding of mental illness on the perspectives of those whose lives are touched by it. Through this lens we can begin to appreciate how much diversity there is in mental illness experiences and outcomes. We’ll get a chance to do just this as we watch and respond to a video titled, “Mental Health: In Our Own Words” during our conversation this week. I hope to see you there!

Our warm-up question for this week:

Imagine you were going to take a cross-country road trip anywhere in the world…where would you go, and what kind of vehicle would you want to travel in?

See you soon,
Alex