9/3 Relief Society Presidency Lesson: Work in Unity to Help Those in Need - Dealing with Anxiety by Megan J.

Relief Society helps prepare women for the blessings of eternal life as they:...Work in unity to help those in need.

In the scriptures there are reference to things being hard and things not being known. The unknown can bring fear and anxiety.

In Mosiah, he says let me tell you what you can know. The gospel has been restored and it is true. The Savior is in
our lives. These are things what we can know and what we can count on.

What do we know?

Moses 1:39 WE are God’s work and glory
D&C 29:31-32 God creates first spiritually, then temporally
2 Nephi 2:11 Opposition exists in ALL things
3 Nephi 18:19 Christ is the one to go to for understanding

2 Nephi 2:26 We are free to act - agency

What specific truths of the Gospel have helped you in facing a challenge?

Alice M.

I remember back when I first joined the church it was the beginning of a hymn God loves us so he sent his son. This is what I carried with me.

Jen P.

I am reminded of a scripture that inspired me to go on a mission.  D&C “By the fire of my indignation will I protect them.” This inspired me to go out into the world and teach people things I was still learning myself. His arm is our arm.  He will help our enemies fall under our feet in the form of trials and troubles.

Alex B.

Joseph Smith in liberty jail. Heaven and hearth will combine to hedge up thy way.  Knowing that Christ is there beside me makes everything better.

Megan F.

I feel like something I remind myself of every day is that God doesn’t care if I have like Chocolate on my couch. I try to just keep eternal perspective that all that matters is your relationship with God and that everything else is important. Nothing you have in this life you can take with you. 

What are some of the practical methods you’ve been inspired to seek for help with anxiety or similar challenges?

Suzi J.

This is something Gordon taught me.  Growing up Dad had a temper.   Somehow this seemed then justified that then you can “lose” your temper. Gordon says no you can DECIDE how you react to things.  No, you can choose.  It is not just how you are.  It never occurred to me that you can choose to NOT react in a temper filled way.  We just celebrated our 21^st anniversary. Deciding how I want to react to things has been the deciding factor in our relationship.  I ask myself, “Why am I feeling this thing”  Usually it is anxiety based.  Sort of creating distance btw. an event and a reaction.  The feelings you often feel in your brain is actually a lie.  Challenging those ideas and working in your mind to create space – play detective a little bit.  What is this bringing up in me?  I feel like my spirit is more generous.  When I was young I was quick to judge people. This is probably fairly common to people in their 20’s …but this practice has given me a greater sense of God’s love.

Then, when really bad things happen, then your whole life is not a house of cards that will collapse.  You are able to then stay steady. 

This takes practice. 

Yes, this is really a training.  WE have been in training w/ a therapist for Hugh for 2 years.  So it has been really great. This is the whole thing w/ anxiety – to create space btw. what you’re feeling and how you thinking about it.

The two quotes below were from Jane Mitchell's RS Workshop and my personal meeting with her.  If anyone wants to borrow the book by Virginia Pearce, I can lend it to them!

Virginia Pearce, Through His Eyes: Rethinking What You Believe About Yourself
President Hinckley said: “Each of us is largely the product of his or her beliefs. Our behavior is governed by these beliefs. They become our standards of conduct.”

Our behavior grows out of our beliefs. Will you accept an invitation to inquire after truth as we poke around to discover our own individual beliefs?

To be an inquirer after truth is a journey outside as well as inside of ourselves. …It requires the periodic exercise of “taking everything out of the closet” of our minds and purposefully returning only that which is actually true. Over and over again. Things that aren’t true tend to creep into the great storage vaults of our minds, making it more difficult for us to see and use the great truths that belong there.

Inquiring after truth is a lifelong journey. Because there is no end to truth, we will expect to continually see new truths or to understand old truths more fully and deeply. We will constantly be evaluating and integrating new truths, and evaluating and discarding partial truths and lies.

Will you join me in acting as an energetic inquirer after truth? Would you be willing to look deeply into your own mind and do a little reevaluating, discovering, sorting, sifting, discarding, and acquiring? An orderly mind devoid of clutter and operating with useful truth will feel good—very good.

Byron Katie, Loving What Is
I have never experienced a stressful feeling that wasn’t caused by attaching to an untrue thought. Behind every uncomfortable feeling, there’s a thought that isn’t true for us. “The wind shouldn’t be blowing.” “My husband should agree with me.”

…Through the process of inner inquiry, we discover that many concepts and judgments we believe (or take for granted) are distortions of things are they really are. When we believe our thoughts instead of what is really true, we experience emotional distress. That suffering is a natural alarm, warning us that we’re attaching to an untrue thought; when we don’t listen, we come to accept this distress as an inevitable part of life. It is not.

This process of inquiry allows our mind to notice each stressful thought and undo it before it can cause any suffering. Our internal arguments with reality disappear, and we find that what remains is love—love for ourselves, for other people, and for whatever life brings.

…The first step is to write down your judgments about any stressful situation in your life, past, present, or future—about a person you dislike or worry about, a situation with someone who frightens or frustrates you. Write your judgments down, just the way you think them, without trying to censor your thoughts.

Then, begin to inquire about those judgments and thoughts. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is it true? Can you absolutely know that it’s true?

2. How do you react when you think that thought?

3. Who would you be without the thought?

Then, turn it around: what is reality? What is the real truth here?

Keep asking the question and wait. Let the answer find you. When the mind asks sincerely, the heart will respond.

Helpful article from lds.org: Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders

Other resources: Podcasts (The Alison Show, This American Life, Audible), meditation (Apps: Insight Timer, I Sleep Easy), exercise, counseling (contact Megan for LDS recommendations in the area), Visiting Teachers & others, "Seek ye out of the best books", service, journaling

On a personal note if anyone ever wants to talk in person with me about anxiety, depression or related challenges, please know you can!  You are not alone!  I would also love to hear your successes and experience dealing with anxiety around starting a new job, supporting & preparing to give care to aging parents and dating.  We need each other!

Just to conclude, the comparison btw. hope and the hurt – we have prophets that tell us things we CAN know.  There is a lot of hurt AND hope through these challenges. The one who has experienced ALL hurt and ALL hope that we can turn to the Savior.  I hope you will rely on him and go to him.  It is a priority of the Savior to give this to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.