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Tending To My Thoughts: A Doctor with Severe Mental Illness Finds Recovery
Tending to My Thoughts continues the story of Sharon Hastings, a medical doctor living with severe mental illness. Her personal experience of recovery offers a starting point to help readers think through what recovery could look like for them, or their loved ones.
Peppered with personal anecdote, shot through with medical knowledge and helpful explanation, this is a book to inspire hope, and provide evidence that life can improve. Sharon Hastings writes to encourage those who walk alongside people with severe mental illness, and equip individual Christians and churches to effectively support those in recovery, particularly from severe mental illness.
Peppered with personal anecdote, shot through with medical knowledge and helpful explanation, this is a book to inspire hope, and provide evidence that life can improve. Sharon Hastings writes to encourage those who walk alongside people with severe mental illness, and equip individual Christians and churches to effectively support those in recovery, particularly from severe mental illness.
208 pages, Paperback
Published February 22, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 27, 2023
I received a free copy of, Tending To My Thoughts by Sharon Hastings, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Sharon has mental illness, a taboo subject for many people. Sharon is very honest about her struggles, and how she lives with a mental illness. This was a good read, very interesting.
December 21, 2024
Introduction
Tending To My Thoughts is the second published book by Sharon Hastings. Her first work Wrestling With My Thoughts is a memoir that focuses on her struggle with mental illness and how her faith has helped her. Tending To My Thoughts is more about her recovery and explains what she has found to be helpful and always gives a useful Christian perspective.
The chapters
The chapter structure and titles of the book give a telling sense of her approach. She uses the botanical example of plants to explain the topic of recovery. Of these, she includes: the Recovery College, medication, talking therapy, developing a recovery mindset, encountering God, examining herself, WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan), acceptance and her future eternal hope.
Still a personal touch
Throughout the book she describes different experiences she has had with the illness. I was at her book launch and got the impression that while Wrestling With My Thoughts was a memoir, Tending To My Thoughts would be a more impersonal work full of facts and devoid of the story and person we loved in Sharon’s first book. However, this book is no less personal – we certainly know Sharon even better with it – and I think we get a more realistic view of what recovery looks like for somebody with a severe mental illness.
Her knowledge and insight
As always, Sharon’s own knowledge of mental illness from her training as a doctor is invaluable as well as her Christian perspective throughout. At times I was sceptical of some of the methods she used for recovery as a Christian, such as mindfulness and yoga, however she gives references to various scriptural verses that seem to justify their use for Christians. She herself harboured the scepticism I had but then came to the conclusion that they were okay for Christians to get involved in.
What is recovery?
One of the quotes she has at the start of Chapter 3 from the American Psychological Association was: ‘Recovery is not recovery from a disease or condition; recovery is recovery of the person who has the disease or condition.’ For Sharon, recovery is not about pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. It’s about building on our strengths and being aware of our weaknesses.
WRAP
As someone who works for the health service, I am glad she included a chapter on WRAP. This is something I have benefited from using myself and would recommend it to anybody who has a mental illness and even those who don’t.
Concluding thoughts
As you draw near the end of the book Sharon makes clear that while she now lives a better life in regards to a long time of stability with her husband and her son, and not needing to be admitted to hospital, she doesn’t shy away from the fact that life isn’t perfect. Her mood can be up and down. She accepts that she will probably have to be on certain medication for the rest of her life. However, the last chapter highlights the Christian hope of a new heaven and earth. As I recall, the resolution with which she ended her previous book was that she fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. This resolution of heaven seems to be even more encouraging to the reader than Wrestling With My Thoughts. Therefore I think Tending To My Thoughts is a helpful work for anyone exploring recovery from mental illness.
Tending To My Thoughts is the second published book by Sharon Hastings. Her first work Wrestling With My Thoughts is a memoir that focuses on her struggle with mental illness and how her faith has helped her. Tending To My Thoughts is more about her recovery and explains what she has found to be helpful and always gives a useful Christian perspective.
The chapters
The chapter structure and titles of the book give a telling sense of her approach. She uses the botanical example of plants to explain the topic of recovery. Of these, she includes: the Recovery College, medication, talking therapy, developing a recovery mindset, encountering God, examining herself, WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan), acceptance and her future eternal hope.
Still a personal touch
Throughout the book she describes different experiences she has had with the illness. I was at her book launch and got the impression that while Wrestling With My Thoughts was a memoir, Tending To My Thoughts would be a more impersonal work full of facts and devoid of the story and person we loved in Sharon’s first book. However, this book is no less personal – we certainly know Sharon even better with it – and I think we get a more realistic view of what recovery looks like for somebody with a severe mental illness.
Her knowledge and insight
As always, Sharon’s own knowledge of mental illness from her training as a doctor is invaluable as well as her Christian perspective throughout. At times I was sceptical of some of the methods she used for recovery as a Christian, such as mindfulness and yoga, however she gives references to various scriptural verses that seem to justify their use for Christians. She herself harboured the scepticism I had but then came to the conclusion that they were okay for Christians to get involved in.
What is recovery?
One of the quotes she has at the start of Chapter 3 from the American Psychological Association was: ‘Recovery is not recovery from a disease or condition; recovery is recovery of the person who has the disease or condition.’ For Sharon, recovery is not about pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. It’s about building on our strengths and being aware of our weaknesses.
WRAP
As someone who works for the health service, I am glad she included a chapter on WRAP. This is something I have benefited from using myself and would recommend it to anybody who has a mental illness and even those who don’t.
Concluding thoughts
As you draw near the end of the book Sharon makes clear that while she now lives a better life in regards to a long time of stability with her husband and her son, and not needing to be admitted to hospital, she doesn’t shy away from the fact that life isn’t perfect. Her mood can be up and down. She accepts that she will probably have to be on certain medication for the rest of her life. However, the last chapter highlights the Christian hope of a new heaven and earth. As I recall, the resolution with which she ended her previous book was that she fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. This resolution of heaven seems to be even more encouraging to the reader than Wrestling With My Thoughts. Therefore I think Tending To My Thoughts is a helpful work for anyone exploring recovery from mental illness.
December 11, 2023
Quick skim of the final paperback - Sharon's book is so helpful, with hard-won wisdom, biblical sensitivity, and real hope.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews