Bipolar Disorder: One Family's Journey Towards Hope
Mental Illness. The very words chill our souls. Yet, millions of people struggle with mental illness every minute of every day. In this powerful, transparent interview, one family describes their extraordinary battle to find stability when their family life revolves around the insecurity of a wife and mother diagnosed with Bipolar illness. The purpose of these resources is to offer help and hope to those who struggle with “secret” pain, those difficult life crises that are hard to understand or discuss, harder still to experience. Mental illness is perhaps one of the loneliest and most isolating of life crises. This family shares their own story with hopes their lives will offer help and hope to others who fight every day to find purpose. This interview is also for those who love someone broken by mental illness. It is our prayer that many will find help and hope in this powerful interview.
July 31, 2018
Since this interview was recorded, much has happened in the lives of Elizabeth and her family. Spencer married a Christian young woman and moved to another state to pursue his PhD, leaving Lee and Elizabeth to redefine themselves as a family. Lee began to travel more for work.
Elizabeth began to thrive. It started in her job as a music therapist in an institution that based itself on Christian principles. There she felt enriched by the outreach she could do. She came to see quickly that she derived strength from the joy her work gave her. But she still battled some seasonal mood patterns that had not been apparent until she had taken the job. Acknowledging the issue, she asked her boss to be patient and began consulting with a physician with a high pedigree, excellent reputation, and many years of experience in a nearby city.
In addition to making suggestions, the new physician was excellent at listening carefully to both Elizabeth’s reports of her symptoms and her ideas of medications and regimes that might be helpful. After a failure with one new medication, the doctor tried a second that Elizabeth had suggested. She had tried it about ten years prior with another doctor and immediately experienced concerning side effects that led her to quit taking it after only one day. But she had always thought she had perhaps not given it an adequate chance. The new doctor agreed and prescribed it again. Within two days, Elizabeth knew she had found a huge missing piece in the puzzle that was her unique brain chemistry. Now she was more alert and able to compartmentalize things that upset her, instead of worrying obsessively. Her remaining highs and low had become more controllable with amber light blocking glasses as well. She was amazed and praising God.
Just then, Elizabeth’s life was touched by severe crisis unlike anything she had experienced before. And she knew without doubt, as she journeyed through it, that without the new medication, so obviously God’s provision in God’s time, she would have fallen, instead of walking through it with her sanity in tact.
Within three months of receiving the new drug, well before the crisis had begun to abate, Elizabeth began recording scripture songs at a local music studio. She had written the songs over the previous twenty-five years, during her darkest moments, in order to capture the truths of the bible despite the fluctuating moods in her head. Never before had she the energy of confidence to record them.
The first fifteen of the songs Elizabeth collected in a CD titled, “Faith Songs.” Afterwards, she continued to write and record music, realizing that it was her dearest calling. A second CD appeared a year later, titled, “Deep Calls to Deep.” Currently, she is mostly finished with a third CD and has plans for a fourth, which will contain jazz compositions, all based on scripture.
In recording, Elizabeth seeks to preserve the truth of scripture for those who struggle with mental illness or strong emotions that battle against faith. She understands that sometimes we lose the ability to praise. Always grounded in the choice to believe, her songs are nevertheless honest about her personal struggles with doubt, sadness, and anger. Her music can be obtained and streamed on many mainline commercial and streaming servi
Listen and learn more about Elizabeth’s music: virginiaandthenewcreation.com
Elizabeth wants to offer help and hope to anyone who suffers from Bi-Polar illness. Contact us through MARKINC (markinc@markinc.org) and we will pass on your inquiry to Elizabeth.