Mental Health & Spirituality

Mental health and neurodivergence are already topics highly stigmatized in non-spiritual spaces, so why is one of the biggest said phrases in the spiritual community:

 “You’re not depressed, just blocked.” 

As a practitioner who has hereditary severe depressive episodes, a sleeping disorder, purely obsessional OCD, and passive suicidal ideation, and cannot take medication for any of these due to trauma, this has nothing to do with my spirituality. 

When my disorders flare, it’s because they were triggered by circumstances or events, not because I’m being blocked or someone is placing hexes on me, not because I’m out of alignment. They are illnesses, not a byproduct of my spiritual path. 

Recently, I posted a vulnerable video during a severe depressive episode that had lasted weeks. A mutual in the spiritual community told me to reach out if I needed someone to talk to, I considered for a night before deciding that maybe talking to another voice could be beneficial. 

One of the first things they asked me was whether I believed in a higher power. I explained that in the current state I was in,  my guides had stepped back, as to not add to the overwhelm and that I was not in a state where I could use my gifts, including reading cards.

Their response was, “You have a lot blocking you. You have to clear it out. And it doesn’t matter how it gets done.”

Once again, recall I was in a severe depressive episode that had already lasted weeks: anhedonia and suicidal ideation shifting from passive to active. Hearing that I was “just blocked” felt deeply invalidating. It dismissed the work I have done to understand my own mental health patterns and warning signs. When one condition flares for me, they all do. That is not a spiritual failure. That is how my brain works.

My family line carries hereditary depression and anxiety. I grew up with my brain conditioned into OCD hypervigilance, which is also likely hereditary. The way my brain developed physically cannot change. The way I work with the tools available to make sure things get better instead of worse can.

That is what spirituality supports for me. It does not override biology. It does not erase trauma. It helps me navigate what already exists.

After I explained that medication causes severe reactions for me and that this is part of why the episode was so frustrating, because I know medication can help many people, I was told to try holistic healing. Then I was told that if my reactions were that extreme, I should simply avoid medication.

The irony was not lost on me. The reason the episode was so intense was because my options are limited. Holistic tools help, but they are not a cure when your nervous system is overwhelmed. Suggesting the same solutions after someone has clearly explained their limits is not support. It is not listening.

Plenty of spiritual people use medication. Plenty use holistic healing. Plenty use a blend of both. Plenty use nothing. That doesn’t mean what works for one person will work for others. That doesn’t mean that disorders like depression don’t still creep back around. 

Later, I was told to reach out to my therapist and doctor,  after I had already said I no longer trusted the medical system due to a traumatic event earlier this year. I reached out because support was offered. Instead of being met where I was, I was redirected, diagnosed, and spiritually reframed out of a state that was already fragile. 

The conversation also almost immediately shifted from my circumstances, which they directly asked to hear, to theirs and then into spirituality. In a fragile state, I wanted support, someone to listen, and just sit and say I see you. Not having to process another person’s spiritual experiences while trying to navigate my own brain fog. 

While the intention wasn’t malicious, the action was. It is disingenuous to offer support and then dismiss someone the moment their reality becomes inconvenient. It is rude to ask someone to open up and then replace listening with spiritual explanations that minimize what they are experiencing.

Obsessive compulsive disorder, especially in a case like this, when paired with depression and violent images of self harm,  could’ve pulled on the block as a new obsessional thought, leading to a much worse outcome. Thankfully it didn’t. 

One of my favorite quotes is, “We are all spiritual beings having human experiences.” This is where that quote actually matters.

Mental health is often treated as invisible, but it is not. There are signs. There are symptoms. They are just uncomfortable to acknowledge. In spiritual spaces, those signs are often reframed as energetic issues because that feels easier than sitting with someone’s pain.

You would not tell someone with a broken leg that they are blocked, so why is it acceptable to treat mental health as any different?

If you do not know how to support someone in crisis, it is okay to say that. What is not okay is using spirituality to avoid discomfort, accountability, or compassion.

Next time a practitioner states they’re having a hard time with mental health, remember being human comes first, mental health is not a spiritual failing, it is part of human biology. 

As always, blessed be on your journey.

With shadow, light and integration

-Allie 💛