It was at that point that I looked up and realized that her pole wasn’t bent at all, which it would have been if there were a fish on the line. I realized what had happened when my eyes made it to the tip of her pole. There was her hook and little sinker right at the top. She hadn’t caught a fish at all. She felt all the tension because she had reached the end of her line. Are You Really Okay? sets a new standard for how mental health is handled in the church. Debra gives such practical steps not just to heal but thrive! I'm so thankful for her work and getting this message out. It's a must read." Is there anything I can do to help” works when we want to ask whether we can be of assistance. It doesn’t pry into their personal issues, which is great if they’re not comfortable sharing them with us. Still, we can always be of service to someone.

While there are statistics (and some confronting ones at that) and information about potential advances in the future for treating specific mental illnesses, where this book shines is the human element. Stacey interviewed young people living with diagnosed mental illnesses and gave them the opportunity to tell their stories. While she never claims to be an expert herself, Stacey spoke with professionals who treat mental illnesses, some of whom have lived experience.

Retailers:

Perhaps you could say to your friends: “I’m not at all ok. How about you?” You could get together on a call and suggest you all have a complaint session for five minutes each. Give room to discuss it and even play it up, rather than clamp down and try and be fine. Alternatively, suggest you have a zoom dinner and deliberately not mention anything pandemic related. It will be a challenge! Debra Fileta will help you understand who you are—the full you: body, soul, mind, and heart. And like a chair that works only when all four legs are firmly planted on the ground, the truths she will share will help you figure out which of your “legs” is shorter than the others and needs to be propped up. It doesn’t really work to focus all your attention on your spiritual life when your physical or emotional health is a mess. Like the beautiful sunset we watched that night in which all the colors blended together, your life is meant to be a vibrant reflection of every facet of your life. This isn’t possible if you ignore entire components of your well-being. There is an old adage about the cobbler who had no shoes. It can be easy to not do for yourself what you do for a living. My favorite thing about this book is how it defies that stereotype. Debra is honest about her own struggles and transparent about her journey to implement the practices that, as a professional counselor, she advocates for you and me to do. I hope and pray that as you embark upon this journey, you will open your heart, soul, mind, and strength to all that Jesus wants to do in you. I am confident that greater joy and peace are waiting on the other side. In Are You Really OK? author and licensed counselor Debra Fileta challenges you to get real with who you are and how you’re doing spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically so you can recognize where you need growth and healing. You’ll learn to… The sky was streaked with oranges and pinks and purples. The reflection of those colors into the turquoise lake caused a surreal tie-dye effect that amplified the sunset. You could hardly tell where the sky ended and the water began. Everything was glowing.

Reading this book is like sitting on the couch with your own personal therapist. In Are You Really OK? Debra shows us that our spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental health are intertwined, weaving in her personal and professional experience. The book is full of wisdom, understanding, and practical tools that will make a difference in your life today.” I really love Stacey’s documentaries. They’re get right to the core of the problem and don’t shy away from the real issues, be that economical or societal in origin. This book tries to do that, but it’s a much softer inspection of mental health that I expected - it didn’t really go into much depth about what some of the wider contributors to this problem are, and why, although it does mention them in passing. Are you really OK? I don’t think there’d be too many people who could answer that question with a resounding yes after living through what the 2020’s have given us so far. Now, more than ever, we need to do whatever we can to look after our mental health.

Whatever You’re Going Through, I’m Happy To Help

When we ask a friend or family member, “are you okay,” we want them to know we mean it. We want them to understand that we care about them, and we want to help. That’s why this article will show you better alternatives to use in place of it. What Can I Ask Instead Of “Are You Okay”? Because Stacey’s approach is so down to earth and she’s so relatable, her documentaries and both of her books have a warmth to them, almost as though you’re seeing friends catching up and talking about some of their most difficult experiences. I’ll definitely be rereading this book.

I really appreciate his honest in every area but particularly about his upbringing. He’s aware that he’s had a privileged life that not everyone has and I really like how he’s been honest about the positives and negatives of that fact, without sounding spoilt or patronising. It’s a nice balance.In August 2020, Joe Lyons, Roman Kemp’s much-loved best friend and work colleague died by suicide. Roman and his tight knit group of mates were totally blindsided by Joe’s sudden and unexpected death, and understandably their devastation at the loss of such a special person remains to this day. Mates Tom, Olly and Lysander meet Roman to discuss the death of their friend Ashley, three years ago. “It’s still hard every day,” Lysander says. “I’m not going to sugar coat it. It can still be difficult but we take every day as it comes.” Finally, let’s look at another statement we can make. Again, it works well when you’re not overly familiar with a person, and you don’t know the exact extent of their pains or worries. In the church we can be guilty of looking for spiritual solutions to physical or emotional problems. You might not have a demon—you might just be dehydrated. Prayer is important, but so is counseling. And while no one would ever tell a person with poor vision to correct their eyesight with Bible verses—we’d advise them to get prescription lenses!—there can be a stigma around a similar prescription for treating a chemical deficiency. Debra helps us avoid such narrow thinking and unhelpful dichotomies. It’s not either/or, but both/and. Prayer is important and so is counseling. Being in a small group at church is vital, and depending on what you are walking through, medicine might be too. This book really doesn't know what it wants to be. The cover and particularly the title leads oneself to believe that you're going to get at the very least something substantial on mental health. The reality is the contents (or at least the first two thirds of it, I'll get to why I didn't finish it) consist of some basic discussion of the topic but I actually felt the effectiveness of even this was undermined by the way in which the author switches to discussion of random things that have happened in his life, many of which being subjectively amazing experiences many could only dream of.