Season 1; Episode 5: Not Today Satan
Meet Keighley, a full-time park walker, nature artist at StudioKeighls, cat mom, and fabulous roommate/friend. In this episode, Keighley and I talk about our two very different experiences in YWAM, speaking in tongues, how to talk to your boss/coworkers about your mental health struggles, alternative therapies for treating depression and anxiety, and what it’s like running an Etsy shop.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and RadioPublic
Keighley and I first met one summer when we were teenagers while working at a Christian summer camp. We were in the same cabin together and we became instant friends. We remained in touch throughout the years, even when we both went abroad to complete the Discipleship Training School and then became staff members for Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Eventually, we ended up in the same city the year Keighley dropped out of university and I started university. We were even roommates for almost a year, freezing our asses off in a garage-turned-basement-suite. Keighley is one of my closest friends, and I’m so lucky to have had her in my life for the past 15 years.
Babies
Keighley first saw a physician about her anxiety in approximately the fourth grade, this is when she was first diagnosed with OCD and started on antidepressants. She struggled with intrusive thoughts, mainly an intense fear of not wanting to accidentally worship Satan and end up in hell. She stayed on a low dose of antidepressants until her early twenties. While she was in YWAM, she decided to take herself off the meds, as her symptoms were so minimal. In her third year of university, studying to become a conservation officer, she struggled a lot with her self-confidence and had a hard time focusing in class and keeping up with her classmates. In her mid-twenties, she had her first panic attack, and it lasted for weeks. Unable to sleep or eat, she lost 30 lbs and developed flu-like symptoms. The doctor diagnosed her with severe anxiety and depression and advised her to drop out of university and start taking antidepressants again.
Since 2018, Keighley has been on a journey of healing her mental health, and finding ways to cope with the anxiety and depression that threaten to overtake every area of her life. In this episode, we talked about whether depression and anxiety are diagnoses, but rather, symptoms of a larger issue. Harvard found a linkage between the brain and the gastrointestinal system; digestion issues can be the cause or symptom of anxiety and depression. We also touch on whether mental illness is inherited or whether certain symptoms of mental illness are learned mannerisms. We also ask if depression and anxiety can be cured, or if we just need to learn how to treat the symptoms.
We talked a lot about our experiences in Youth With A Mission (YWAM), an international, interdenominational Christian organization whose main purpose is to train up young people to become missionaries and convert everyone on earth to Christianity. We had two very different experiences at YWAM; Keighley attended her Discipleship Training School (DTS) and staffed at one of the largest YWAM bases in Kona, Hawaii, and I was first introduced on a teeny tiny base on the island of St.Lucia in the Caribbean. After completing our DTS, we both returned to the same base to become staff members. Keighley staffed a DTS and led a team to Ghana, and I continued to another base in Brazil.
Keighley and I both come from Mennonite Brethren churches, congregations known to be more quiet and reserved. YWAM was a largely charismatic movement, so there was often a lot of speaking in tongues, praying out demons, miracles of healing, and other mystical experiences. I first started experiencing panic attacks while I was a staff member at YWAM, and these severe mental health episodes would be written off as spiritual warfare that should be prayed away. I was often asked what doors I was letting the devil use to enter my life and cause my anxiety.
Keighley shared about different treatments she has explored since 2018, including seeing a naturopath and a counsellor. She also tried out neurofeedback, which is essentially training the brain to self-regulate. Some strategies she uses to cope with anxiety while working full time are: using the Calm app, taking naps, cancelling plans when she needs to recharge, talking about her feelings, practicing yoga, going for walks, and visiting a float tank. To help her sleep, she takes the Calm Pro supplement, but you could also try taking calcium and magnesium supplements together as natural sleep aids.
Finally, we talk about Keighley’s journey in creating her Etsy shop, StudioKeighls, where she sells art prints and stickers inspired by BC’s nature and wildlife. She started doing acrylic pours during the height of the pandemic in 2020, and her art has evolved to include her passion for the outdoors and conservation. Follow her on Instagram if you like cool nature pictures and artwork of the beautiful species and landscapes of British Columbia!
Thanks for coming on my podcast Keighley! Here's to 15 more years of annoying you!