Cure for Emptiness: Why do you feel Lonely, Empty and Depressed

 

Video mentioned: Spiritual Battle behind Depression and Mental Illness https://youtu.be/sX9STiVwy0o Do you feel lonely and empty inside? Even though you have friends, and party all the time, the feeling just won’t shake off no matter how many people are physically around you? When I was really depressed to the point of suicide, I experienced a really strange feeling, I felt like I was an empty shell. It was a very real, physical feeling. I felt hollow. Depression reached a point where it was not just about dysfunctional thoughts and emotions, rather, it became physical. Look at all these artworks, people paint a picture of an empty hole in the body, at the same spot. Literally, that is where we feel empty physically. So what is missing? What can fill that emptiness? We are not made with just flesh, but there is a soul and there is a spirit. Our spirit and soul, the core of our essence physically resides in this precise spot of our body. During our depression, our body, soul and spirit are all affected. Our brain, this big organ is medically sick; our soul, which is what rules our emotions and thoughts is debilitated, but most importantly, our spirit is either dead or worse yet there is a demonic spirit taking over. The role of the spirit is to connect with other people. Not on a physical sexual level. The feeling of loneliness can’t be cured with a sexual experience that only satisfies the flesh. Rather, spiritual health can only be achieved by having meaningful connections with others. A relationship between soulmates is built on love, not just sex. If you feel you are loved, and you have the ability to love, your soul is joyful and your spirit is alive. That empty hole is filled. Most people engage themselves with meaningless sex because they want to find love, they want to be complete. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in Spirit. The good news, even though we don’t have someone to love or their love is not enough. God’s unconditional and everlasting love is better than anyone can offer. Our Lord Jesus wants to love us and to unite with us in Spirit. When the Holy Spirit directly connects with us and resides in us, our spirit is revived. When the spirit is alive, it will help heal the soul and the body. That is how I experienced my ultimate healing from my depression.

Download a free PDF of my book LEAP at: http://nancyxia.com

Drawing Tutorial: How to sketch an elephant with pencil

 link to full tutorial in my Art Channel: https://youtu.be/ubOxG3zzTTU

When Someone Denies and Refuses Treatment for Their Mental Illness

 

Video Mentioned:

My Medication Journey: https://youtu.be/3SoQAjnL1TI Caregivers often have trouble convincing a person with mental illness to seek psychiatric treatment. Calling 911 and taking them against their will is not always ideal. Besides the obvious reason of stigma against the mentally ill, there are others reasons behind their unwillingness to receive treatment. Let’s talk about them in this video and discuss solutions

My Medication Journey: effective treatment for mental illness

Mental illnesses are hard to treat. People with Bipolar Disorder, Depression, or other psychiatric conditions often complain about the side effects or the ineffectiveness of psychotropic medication, which leads to resistance and refusal in taking and staying on medications. I have Bipolar 1 Disorder, which was destructive at one point, but now I have achieved a high quality of life after my Bipolar Disorder is successfully treated. In this video, I want to talk about my experience in finding the right medication and the right dosage after years of struggling. I hope this video is helpful, and I hope you will soon be on your way to full mental health recovery.

Download a free PDF of LEAP at: http://nancyxia.com My Story: my failed suicide attempt when I was 18. https://youtu.be/xi-on4PmKuE

How I beat Insomnia. When Sleeping Pills don't work anymore

 

Direct Link: https://youtu.be/cD4CN90hWlQ

Insomnia can have many types and causes. One of the causes could be that you have a mild case of mental illness that you are not aware of. Taking sleeping pills on a long-term basis is not the solution, the key to treating your insomnia is taking psychotropic medication that targets your mental health condition. Perhaps you don’t need a lot of it, but just enough to help you sleep better. Therefore, seeing a psychiatrist might be helpful to you. In this video, I am sharing my personal experience of how I have overcome my insomnia and I will explain to you why it's not a sleep disorder, it's a mental health condition that causes your Insomnia.

My Extreme Insomnia before my suicide attempt: https://youtu.be/dCxefGPTjLo My Story: my failed suicide attempt when I was 18. https://youtu.be/xi-on4PmKuE My Experience in a Psych Ward https://youtu.be/_a4jdSX_CJ4 Download a free PDF of LEAP at: http://nancyxia.com

First Step in Suicide Prevention: Going to a Psych Ward

Direct Link: 

https://youtu.be/_a4jdSX_CJ4

https://youtu.be/JaMe7HOOJ5w

Download a free PDF of my book LEAP at: http://nancyxia.com

My Story of how I survived my suicide attempt: https://youtu.be/xi-on4PmKuE

Subscribe to my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/NancyXia/videos

The tragic death of former miss USA Cheslie Kryst stirred up another round of discussion on suicide prevention. Her death certainly hit close to home for me, at age 18, by the same means, my suicide attempt made me paralyzed for life. Over the years, I was in and out of a psychiatric ward for a total of 5 months. In this video, I will share my experience in the psych ward. I hope that you will find this interesting and thought provoking. I will also discuss the importance of seeking for inpatient treatment when someone is suicidal. And why it is the first and most important step in recovering from a mental illness.

Lost in Thailand: Chris Channon's Amazing Survival Story

original Link: https://youtu.be/LOGNcgRC560

My friend Chris Channon lives in Toronto Canada. A couple years ago, he worked as a missionary and humanitarian aid worker for Samaritan’s Purse. He was sent to help people in Sudan and the Philippines. After his mission was over, he took an adventure in Koh Lipe, Thailand, a beautiful vacation destination. It was in that Paradise, he had a Hellish encounter. In his most desperate moment, he heard God’s audible voice. . .

Check out other stories on this playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMGx9tib3dXdS30rIQKmSxBJgBtHmGY1T
 

Miraculous Healing from Terminal Liver Cancer?

 

Link to Video https://youtu.be/aCziBTy8xtQ

Recently, my dad was diagnosed with Cancer. At first, we thought that after the surgery the ordeal would be over, but his Cancer Specialist told us that the probability of his cancer returning in 2 years is high. While searching for encouraging Youtube videos for my parents to watch, I came across this powerful testimony of a Christian brother in Taiwan. He was diagnosed with terminal stage liver cancer. Yet, through his faith, he was healed by God. I found this story really powerful, and I tried really hard to add English subtitles to the original video, but the end product didn't work out well. So I decided to write a blog instead. Obviously, this is not a topic for everyone, many of you probably have already stopped reading as soon as the word "God" was mentioned. Well, if you are also facing death, if you are living in fear and in hopelessness, please read on. You will find this encouraging. 

Here is the English Transcript:

This is my testimony. God's Grace is amazing! Almost 3 years ago, on April 8th 2014. I had been coughing nonstop for 6 months, couldn't finish saying two sentences without coughing. When I went for a checkup, this was an image of my lungs. This shows terminal stage lung cancer. 

But the doctor said they were infected by another organ.  After further testing, it was my liver. 60% of my chest chamber was stuffed by my liver. 80% of my liver tissues were dead. My liver was filled with pus. Only 20% of my remaining liver were functioning. 

Do you know what's Alpha-fetoprotein? High level of AFP is one of the detectors of liver disease. Normal level is between 0-7，my AFP level is almost 40K，39877 to be exact. The doctor was shocked, he said that even dead people have lower AFP level than mine. Every test indicates that my life is about to end. The doctor concluded that if I receive chemo, I will have 4 months left. If I don't do anything about it, I will have one month to live. Some people only have a few days. After some thinking, I told my doctor that I didn't want to receive any treatment. The doctor said, "you should not give up on yourself. I replied, "No, I won't give up. But, I have been a Christian all my life, I want to use the remainder of my life to verify my faith.

At first, I lost 17kg in one month. I could only sleep less than 1.5 hr each day. I couldn't turn in bed, it would trigger severe pain. Our liver doesn't have any nerves, it doesn't cause pain directly, but my liver swelled so much that the nerves in surrounding regions were pinched every time I turned. It was incredibly painful.

People from my church, my pastor, his wife, the director, they all came to my home to pray for me. The Pastor's wife sent me these scriptures from Job 33: 19-28. She told me that she read these verses countless times before, but that day, they jumped out to her. She believed God wanted to forward them to me. He wanted to use me through my illness. This verse precisely reflected my situation at the time. Job 33:24 "‘Rescue him from the grave, for I have found a ransom for his life.’ And verse 25 "let their flesh be renewed like a child’s;". When I was sick, I looked like I was 80 years old. After I was healed, my youth was indeed renewed. I am 61 years old, I don't have grey hairs. Thank you Jesus. His promise never fails. 

On April 16th, the day after receiving my prognosis, I started praying whole-heartedly. They only things I did were singing praises, reading my bible, praying and repenting. My older sister wanted me to make the most out of my remaining days by having a high quality of life. She ordered me to not have any visitors. She advised me to turn off my cellphone, stop using the Internet and stop watching TV. I needed to spend time with Jesus alone. Let Him accompany me. During that time, the only things I was doing were reading the Bible, praying, repenting and worshipping. My wife put the lyrics of hymns on the walls, so I can sing along to worship music. My family guided me during my daily repentance. 

My brother knew how much I was suffering. He often took me on a hike to this beautiful mountain. There was a really quite and beautiful resting place on this mountain, and we spent a lot of time there praying and worshipping. I would say to God, "Lord, You are the light of the world, when light comes in, darkness will be cast away. I truly repent at your feet. You said, when we repent, you will forgive us our sins. You said, when our sins are forgiven, You will heal us. This is Your true promise to us.”

On May 19th, I went back for my second checkup. 40 days had passed. When I walked in, the doctor was really glad and surprised that I was still alive. When I told him that I went hiking and my energy level was great. He found that unbelievable for someone in my condition. He wanted me to test everything all over again. The left is an updated imagine of my lungs, they look much clearer! 

This is my liver, it looks much prettier, the color had lighten up! 

My Alpha-fetaprotein level dropped 21000 in 40 days, from 39877 to 18946. When I went back to see my results, he said, "Mr. Chan, your Jesus saved you." I padded his hand, and replied, “If you believe too, He is OUR Jesus."

Many were curious about how I got better, they asked me if I was on a special diet. They expected me to say something like, "I was eating everything organic or some special herbal medicine." I said, I was eating steaks, pork hocks and shaved ice." One time, I wanted to eat pork hock so bad, my wife bought four, she was afraid that I did not have many chances to eat my favorite food. This was me eating shaved ice. Even healthy people had reservations when eating shaved ice. But it's one of my favorite food. My wife let me eat whatever I wanted.

On August 11th, I went back to my doctor again for another follow-up. Do you know what the doctor said to me? He said, "thank you Mr. Chan, for allowing me to witness God's Glory." He said, "look, the lungs are totally clear of Cancer. The liver is new. The size went back to normal. " 

On the lower left corner, this is my stomach, the stomach is now visible. My central nerve used to be compressed, now it's back to its original position. The liver is completely new. 

My doctor held my hands and said, "Thank you for letting me witness God's Glory." At 4 months point, my Alpha-Fetaprotein level dropped to 42. Doctor said it's normal.  I asked, "isn't 42 still high?" He said, "it's nose-diving, it's still dropping." 

This is Dr. Hu. He is a prominent Gastroenterologist, a PhD graduate from Cambridge. When he examined me, he came up with three conclusions. He said, "you got better because, your thoughts are positive, your outlook is optimistic, and you have a good faith system." You think he's right? (Yes!) No, he's wrong. You think I was positive and optimistic? After every worship service, I would count how many days I still had left. But I do have a good God, that's true. Glory to God.  He and his wife were Buddhists prior to this, they used to have an altar on their third floor. Because of my testimony, he now believes in Jesus Christ. On August 17th, my sister and I led him to Jesus in my living room. 

I made an agreement with my doctor, I would visit him once two months. On August 11th, My AFP level was 42. On December 27th, it was 11.27. March 11th of the following year, it was 2.73. Right now, it's 1.37. It’s normal. Dr. Hu asked me, "do you know how you got liver cancer in the first place?" I said no. He said it was my chronic HBV that I neglected it. He wanted me to do a DNA test for Hepatitis B. My test result came back negative, even my Hepatitis B got cured by God. Thank you God and your Amazing Grace is awesome!

Final Thoughts

Many people were wondering how come such miraculous healing didn't happen to them,  they were also life-long Christians? How come miracles like this doesn't happen everywhere? A pastor gave a really good argument: when we watch a beautiful sunset, when we visit a magnificent place, we might say something like, "this is Heaven!" Occasionally God shows us what Heaven looks like on earth, similarly, by healing a few number of people, He shows us what Heaven will be like  --- where there will be no more death and sickness, and everyone will be made new again. 

During my years as a new Christian, I used to "count on" God's miraculous healing as well. I would lie on my stomach when I was sleeping, thinking it was an easier position for God to touch my back. Of course I still believe healing can happen in this life, but my faith doesn't depend on whether or not it happens. 

The purpose of this video is not to say that you will experience the same miracle if you do the same things as Chan did. The purpose of this video is to prove to you from another angle that God exists. My faith journey started with a very simple prayer of, "God, please let me know that you exist." And then, He was so willing to reveal Himself to me in my situations. I started to experience things that I couldn't explain. I cannot imagine not being a Christ-follower, not having His peace and hope in times like this.

This Christmas, I pray that you will seek Him with an open heart. You really don't have to try very hard to find Him, because He will reach out to you when you pray and ask.  

How to cope well with a mental illness

https://youtu.be/JiKEMeNCoRo

Having a mental illness might require a high maintenance lifestyle. There are certain things in life we might want to avoid, and other things that we must do with consistency. In this video, I am sharing my insights on how I maintain my mental health aside from taking medications, the dos and don'ts as someone who lives with bipolar disorder. It's also applicable to people with other types of mental illness.

Medication treatment for mental illness: https://youtu.be/EeEtPYZ7RWo My Story: https://youtu.be/xi-on4PmKuE Read my book for free: https://xianancy.blogspot.com My website: https://nancyxia.com Check out my other videos in this series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMGx9tib3dXdKCBcvXwkd77m5vPJlFF51

Sarah’s survival story

https://youtu.be/Y0Dw9Bje_PY

This is the story of my best friend Sarah Ginn. Sarah was in a severe car crash in 2003. Her head injury was so bad that she was in a 6-week comma, during which she went to Heaven and had an encounter with God. Her mom also experienced something supernatural. Sarah’s injury left her many permanent impairments, but she is such a joyful person. She is one of the best people I have met. You will love this amazingly powerful story.

A Powerful Message from Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church

I recently started watching Pastor Rick Warren. He lost a son to suicide. His teachings are so powerful and genuine. I cried after hearing this message. That's exactly how I felt at one point, regretting so much about my past, feeling shameful and embarrassed. But I know that God values me, no matter how undeserving I am, Jesus sees me as His valuable possession. 

Check out Saddleback Church's channel on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/saddleback

 

Suicide Prevention: How to help someone in a Mental Health Crisis

https://youtu.be/OcsoXKgcVsM

In this video, I am sharing my experience of helping someone who was in a mental health crisis. Combined with my lived experience with Bipolar Depression, I will share some tips on how to help a depressed and suicidal friend or family member.

Read my book for free at http://xianancy.blogspot.com Visit my website http://nancyxia.com Check out my other videos in this series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMGx9tib3dXdKCBcvXwkd77m5vPJlFF51