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Chris Morris Christian Mental Health

Redefine Normal // Rediscover Hope

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Chris Morris Christian Mental Health: Rediscovering Normal

Chris Morris | Christian Mental Health

I spend my time writing about how to balance faith and mental illness. I have both mental illnesses and chronic illnesses, but I’m learning to thrive anyway. I guess that’s why Redefining Normal is part of the code here, because it’s been part of my journey.
My BooksMy Story

Redefine Normal

Rediscover Hope

Welcome to my Christian mental health website. This is a safe place for followers of Jesus dealing with depression, anxiety, and every mental illness under the sun. If you’ve asked yourself, “if I’m a Christian, why am I depressed?“ or, “where is God when my life is falling apart?“, or “How do I overcome depression biblically“, you’re in the right place. Everything here is written as Christian help for those in the mental illness community as we redefine normal and rediscover hope together. Let’s talk about these two things for just a moment. What does it mean to redefine normal? It means that nobody but you gets to tell you what’s normal and what’s abnormal. You are the arbiter of your own life, and you get to decide that.
For you, maybe a normal day is not getting out of bed until noon because of chronic pain, and having to carefully calculate where you spend your limited energy. If so, I honor your normal here. How about rediscovering hope? So many of us struggle to fell there’s any objective reason for hope in our lives, because, to be honest, our lives stink a lot of the time. It’s full of difficulty and complexity, hard conversations and unmet expectations. But we can find the keys to having hope despite all these setbacks. I spend a lot of time talking the nuts and bolts of hope from a biblical perspective, so it’s more tangible, meaningful, and applicable to real life.

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Is This For Me?

Found out more about this site and see if it’s a good space for you to hang out.
Learn more

Life with Psychogenic Seizures

Psychogenic seizures is one of my primary diagnosis, and it impacts me every single day. Learn how here.
Learn more

Two Things I Learned About the Church in the Psych Ward

I have spend time in a psych ward twice in my life. I learned a lot about myself and the church both times.
Learn more

What People Are Saying

morgan busse nlr 4

Resilient and Redeemed “If you are a Christian who battles with depression and suicide, this book is for you. If you have a loved one who struggles with these same elements, this book will help you understand their battle and how you can encourage and pray for them. Chris invites… Read more “Morgan Busse (Resilient and Redeemed)”

Morgan Busse
Award-winning Author of THE RAVENWOOD SAGA and SKYWORLD series, and pastor’s wife
https://morganlbusse.com/
Jeff Goines

Whispers in the Pews “Finally, someone is speaking out on a deep and important issue that simply does not get talked about enough in our faith communities. Thank you, Chris, for your honesty and bravery. May these words move us all to deeper and more compassionate action.”

Jeff Goins
Bestselling author of The Art of Work
https://goinswriter.com/
marty kaiser

Resilient and Redeemed “Chris Morris is a voice the church needs to hear! By courageously sharing his story, Chris opens a much-needed conversation about mental health, weaving personal narratives, theological insights, and practical guidance into a topic that has long been left in the shadows of religious communities.”

Marty Kaiser
Campus Pastor, Vineyard Church Reveal
https://www.revealvineyard.com/

Whispers in the Pews “Chris Morris has compiled honest and raw stories that give sight into the heart of many Christians who have battled, or are battling, mental illness. Whispers in the Pews brings to light that mental health matters and how it hasn’t always mattered in the Christian community,… Read more “Shawn Elizabeth George”

Shawn Elizabeth George
Inspirational Author, Writer, and Speaker
https://www.shawnelizabethgeorge.com/
pwta

Trekking Toward Tenacity “With anxiety and depression on the rise among children and teenagers, Chris Morris’s insight and strategies for combating the lies and misconceptions surrounding mental health are exactly what parents need in their parenting arsenal. Trekking Towards Tenacity provides parents with thoughtful discussion starters, enlightening Scripture explorations, and actionable steps… Read more “Stephanie Gilbert (Trekking Toward Tenacity)”

Stephanie Gilbert
Co-Author of Pastors’ Wives Tell All and co-host of the Pastors’ Wives Tell All podcast
https://www.pastorswivestellall.com/
susy flory headshot smile

Trekking Toward Tenacity “A wise and wonderful walk through Psalm 139, Trekking Toward Tenacity is the kind of book you’ll want to read slowly, marking it up and letting it soak deep into your heart and soul. Both conversational and honest in his style, Chris weaves Scripture and spiritual wisdom throughout… Read more “Susy Flory (Trekking Toward Tenacity)”

Susy Flory
New York Times bestselling author and coauthor, director of West Coast Christian Writers, and doctoral candidate at Houston Theological Seminary
https://susyflory.ag-sites.net/index.htm
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Resilient and Redeemed “In this book you will encounter Chris as a wise guide who shares his journey’s harsh and painful realities. As he skillfully unfolds his story, he encourages all of us to open ourselves to the beautiful possibilities for hope and healing in Jesus. May we all listen… Read more “Gino Curcuruto (Resilient and Redeemed)”

Rev. Dr. Gino Curcuruto
Pastor, The Table Philadelphia
https://thetablephilly.org/
boulware

Trekking Toward Tenacity “God’s word can teach you how to parent through mental health battles. Trekking Towards Tenacity opens your eyes to the power of scripture, self-reflection, and activation exercises that promote healthy change and breakthrough. Our world is saturated with new mental health cases daily. Chris focuses on pivotal points… Read more “Christy Boulware (Trekking Toward Tenacity)”

Christy Boulware
Author of Nervous Breakthrough, Founder of Fearless Unite, podcast host of Fearless Tips and Talks
https://www.christyboulware.com/
Rett Syndrome

Whispers in the Pews “I am ridiculously excited for the stories in this book to be shared. There is an incredible need to discuss the reality of mental illness and how the church can improve how it addresses this.”

Colleen English
President & Founder of Rettland Foundation
http://rettland.org/
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Resilient and Redeemed “I ask my clients, ‘Has your faith, theology, or church experience been helpful or harmful?’ Chris vulnerably and courageously writes about how he has been harmed and most importantly how he has been helped, literally saved, by God and treatment. He shares how depression can affect marriages.… Read more “Sovann Pen (Resilient and Redeemed)”

Sovann Pen
The Courage, Coaching and Counseling Podcast; LPC, A New Day Counseling Center
https://www.sovannpen.com/
kathi lipp

Resilient and Redeemed “With deep compassion, Chris Morris shares his heartbreaking yet hopeful story. He navigates the often-misunderstood intersection of mental health and spiritual well-being with hope and wisdom that are desperately needed in today’s conversations about mental health in the church. I pray that Chris’s vulnerability starts conversations among… Read more “Kathi Lipp (Resilient and Redeeemed)”

Kathi Lipp
Author and Podcaster, Clutter Free Academy
https://www.kathilipp.com/
Mary Demuth

Perfectly Abnormal “Perfectly Abnormal is one of those books that should be required reading for churches longing to provide a welcoming environment for all their members. And it should be required reading for any human who wants to love, empathize, and walk in the shoes of another. I so appreciated… Read more “Mary DeMuth (Perfectly Abnormal)”

Mary DeMuth
http://marydemuth.com
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Trekking Toward Tenacity “Chris offers us a unique gift in Trekking Towards Tenacity: part bible study, part meditation, part training for parents in how to form and shape the faith of their children. Many books do one or two of those well, but Chris skillfully leads the reader through all… Read more “Matt Tebbe (Trekking Toward Tenacity)”

Matt Tebbe
Co-Author of Having the Mind of Christ, Pastor at The Table Indianapolis
https://substack.com/@matttebbe
Mary Demuth

Whispers in the Pews “I cannot imagine Jesus scolding someone with a mental illness, telling them to just get over it, try harder, memorize more verses. No, He would listen. He would love. He would be filled with compassion. And even He was deemed mentally ill in his time, his… Read more “Mary DeMuth”

Mary DeMuth
https://www.marydemuth.com/
Marty Kaiser

Perfectly Abnormal “I highly recommend this book to any person or family trying to deal with a chronic illness. In its pages you will find practical help to move forward, and hope to experience a life worth living. Over the past few years I have witnessed the pain and sorrow… Read more “Marty Kaiser”

Marty Kaiser
http://revealvineyard.com
fitch

Resilient and Redeemed “Open this book and journey with Chris Morris in the struggle to make sense of mental illness within the Christian life. Read the stories, reflect on Scripture, and find hope. In these pages, Chris helps us see God as present in the struggle. Resilient and Redeemed is… Read more “David Fitch (Resilient and Redeemed)”

David Fitch
Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology, Northern Seminary, Chicago
http://seminary.edu

Whispers in the Pews “Compassion is the antidote to stigma, and it only begins when we hear the stories of real men and women who suffer from mental illness. Chris Morris is doing the church a tremendous service with this book. It should be required reading for anyone who considers… Read more “David Edward Cummings”

David Edward Cummings
PhD, Professor of Microbiology, Point Loma Nazarene University, Host of the SoulCare Podcast, Elder at Pathways Community Church, Santee, CA
http://davidedwardcummings.com/
pwta

Trekking Toward Tenacity “This book has the potential to save lives and build healthy dynamics in homes across the nation. Chris Morris’s vulnerability about his own life and family is inspiring and a testimony of God’s relentless pursuit of His children. As a pastor’s wife, I hear how mental illness… Read more “Jessica Taylor (Trekking Toward Tenacity)”

Jessica Taylor
Co-Author of Pastors’ Wives Tell All and co-host of the Pastors’ Wives Tell All podcast
https://www.pastorswivestellall.com/

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chrismorriswrites

Mental health author & speaker, breaking down poor theological frameworks for the church. Check out my books on Amazon and book me to speak for you!

I had the honor of being interviewed by @briannawa I had the honor of being interviewed by @briannawasson on her wonderful podcast. We talked in depth about how my testimony doesn’t fit the typical “Pain + Jesus = Peace” narrative. Instead, I found that my pain largely stayed, but I had the wonderful presence of Christ with me as I walked through it. 

Here’s the link, or find it in my profile links:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7nQe9MRCRiiPwLnIdMMoMf?si=nuxBW6d2RF-VKuG2cy_EFg
You know what makes a trauma survivor want to thro You know what makes a trauma survivor want to throw something? 

A productivity quote that implies you just need to try harder.

I spent two decades thinking this quote proved I was failing because I couldn’t control my Christmas anxiety. 

Turns out, I was just applying it wrong. 

Your initial trauma reflex? Not your fault. 

But the manual work of reframing how you think about that trigger? That’s where your 90% lives. 

It took me until my 40s to figure this out, and I wish someone had told me sooner.

Read more at resilientandredeemed.substack.com.

#TraumaRecovery #ChristianMentalHealth #FaithAndMentalHealth #MentalHealthMatters #CognitiveReframing
When someone told me to “just pray about” my anxi When someone told me to “just pray about” my  anxiety, I wanted to scream. 

Because I WAS praying. But my brain was still having trauma reflexes that prayer alone wasn’t fixing. 

For 20+ years, putting up Christmas decorations produced anxiety and fear because of childhood trauma. I’d disappear or blow up at my family. 

What actually helped? Cognitive reframing - intentionally building new memories alongside the trauma. 

Prayer AND practical tools. It’s not either/or. It’s all hands on deck. 

Your brain has reflexes trained by trauma, and retraining them takes more than wishful thinking. It takes intentional, manual work. And that’s completely okay.

Read more at resilientandredeemed.substack.com.

#TraumaRecovery #ChristianMentalHealth #FaithAndMentalHealth #MentalHealthMatters #CognitiveReframing
About two years ago, I felt my depression coming b About two years ago, I felt my depression coming back with a fierceness I hadn’t known since my suicide attempt. 

It stayed on the fringes of my days, lingering, mocking my growth.

I had a choice to make about what to do—I could go it alone, or I could reach out for help.

This might be one of the most difficult things you ever have to do because it involves transparency about your weaknesses. You have to be brutally honest about how things could go awry for you and reach out for support.

I let every single person who is safe for me know that I was struggling. I asked for prayer and gave them permission to ask me how I was doing at any point on any day. I protected myself before things got out of control.

Because here’s the thing—if we wait until we think we need the help, it might be too late. The only thing better than asking for help is asking for it before you need it.

Read more at resilientandredeemed.substack.com.

#MentalHealthAwareness #FaithAndMentalHealth #ChristianMentalHealth #AskingForHelp #ChurchAndMentalHealth
Asking for help is one of the best things you can Asking for help is one of the best things you can do. The only thing better than asking for help is asking for it before you need it.

After my suicide attempt, I knew I couldn’t go through life alone anymore. I asked friends to be my lifeline.

Nobody said no.

Now when things start to go sideways, I’m not alone. I have a whole group of people ready to step up and help. I’m protected from myself at my worst.

Read more at resilientandredeemed.substack.com.

#MentalHealthAwareness #FaithAndMentalHealth #ChristianMentalHealth #AskingForHelp #ChurchAndMentalHealth
After my attempt on my life, I had a reality check After my attempt on my life, I had a reality check. 

I knew I needed to have a group of people I could reach out to as soon as things go sideways.

I asked some good friends if they would be my lifeline when life gets wonky. I asked permission to just be brutally real with them, and I warned that it could include me saying I’m wrestling with ideation.

I’m glad to say that I didn’t scare anyone off. Everyone I asked said yes, so now I’m not alone.

Two years ago, I felt my depression coming back with a fierceness I hadn’t known since my suicide attempt. This time, I let every single person who is safe for me know that I was struggling. I asked for prayer and gave them permission to ask me how I was doing at any point.

I am protected from myself at my worst, because I have people who are ready to step up and help. 

Learn to lean into courage and ask for help—your life will be better for it.

Read more at resilientandredeemed.substack.com.

#MentalHealthAwareness #FaithAndMentalHealth #ChristianMentalHealth #AskingForHelp #ChurchAndMentalHealth
If you’re a Christian parent who wants your kids t If you’re a Christian parent who wants your kids to keep their faith, listen up...

At some point our kids will start asking questions like “Does God know everything that’s going to happen to us, the good and the bad? If so, why doesn’t he stop the bad things from happening?”

We better be prepared with some answers, or they will begin to lose interest in their faith and start calling it irrelevant.

God believes wholeheartedly in the free will of men and women and won’t interfere in their choices, even if those choices bring calamity upon them.

God will provide opportunities or tests for individuals to see their hearts through their actions, but God will never superimpose his will upon another person’s will to accomplish his purposes.

God honors our free will, and because of that, we experience the joy and the pain of living with the choices of ourselves and others. 

And we can learn from all of it and find God close to us in the midst of it.

Read more at resilientandredeemed.substack.com.

#christianmentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #faithandmentalhealth #healthyboundaries #biblicalwisdom
Why does God allow painful events to happen? God Why does God allow painful events to happen?

God believes wholeheartedly in the free will of men and women and won’t interfere in their choices, even if those choices bring calamity upon them.

If God were the type of God who interfered with free will, then we would have an entirely different world altogether. 

We would be automatons instead of human beings, the cross of Christ would have been unnecessary, and we would not know even the simple joys of choosing what outfit to wear today.

So when we experience pain or suffering, it’s not always because we did something wrong and it’s not because God caused it. 

It’s because the choices of humans have consequences.

Read more at resilientandredeemed.substack.com.

#christianmentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #faithandmentalhealth #healthyboundaries #biblicalwisdom
“A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a “A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8)

It would be easier to understand this if only the second part were there because that would simply mean God has been around for a very long time. But we also have the opposite, that a day is like a thousand years.

This is referring to the idea of eternity and it’s asserting that time is irrelevant to the way God works.

Isaiah 57:15 identifies God as “The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One.” 

When it says he inhabits eternity, it means that he is outside of or above time. Time is irrelevant to God because he does not live in time as we do.

But God’s eternal nature does not mean that he is a deterministic God who has ordained all the things that will happen in our life, reducing us to mere pawns.

God believes wholeheartedly in the free will of men and women and leaves a portion of the future open to the possibilities of what will occur based on the choices we make.

Read more at resilientandredeemed.substack.com.

#christianmentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #faithandmentalhealth #healthyboundaries #biblicalwisdom
Here’s what this costs you: You don’t get to pra Here’s what this costs you: 

You don’t get to practice advocating for yourself. 

You don’t get to discover what you actually value enough to protect. You don’t get the freedom that comes from a clean heart and mind.

You might have been programmed to keep everything inside instead of standing up for yourself. This creates consistent tension in your daily life because you aren’t addressing events that cause you pain, and instead of doing anything about it you stand down.

The Apostle Paul wrote: “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” 

This teaches you how to value the things that are worth addressing, because nobody loves confrontation. And it forces your hand, because you either address it or let it go. 

There’s a freedom that comes in not letting things fester in your soul. The benefits of this tool are almost limitless.

Read more at resilientandredeemed.substack.com.

#christianmentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #faithandmentalhealth #healthyboundaries #biblicalwisdom
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