Sariah Harrison could not have been more excited to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Dominican Republic back in 2022. 

Her mission experience was far from what she ever expected. Shortly after arriving in the Dominican Republic, everything about life became incredibly heavy and dark. She felt like she was living in an absolute mental hell & wanted nothing more than for it all to end.  

Having never experienced debilitating mental health challenges, Sariah discusses the difficulty of coming to accept that she was experiencing serious anxiety and needed to return home to receive help.

Sariah expresses her journey towards healing and the Saviour's role in it all. 

 Youtube: https://youtu.be/uLOZ2cMVr_A

 -----Contact Info-----

Whether you're reaching out with similar experiences, questions, or comments, I would love to hear from you!
Email: sariah@navigatingreligiousocd.com 

-----Contents of this episode-----

 00:00-Intro

00:09-Background

01:28-God speaks to me in the night

03:53-Final preparations

04:14-There’s something special about darkness

04:52-Zion is in reach!

05:55-My goal in sharing this message

06:22-My mission call

06:47-Diving in to my story

07:22-By being my happy self, I thought I’d never experience debilitating mental health challenges 

07:49-Having a mental illness is like having a broken bone

08:26-Perfectionism fueled by anxiety

09:22-This is what anxiety does

10:04-Expectations vs. reality

10:14-I felt like I was sinning constantly

10:20-I knew I was going to Hell

10:34-I felt like my connection to the Saviour was cut

11:04-My life felt incredibly hopeless

11:21-Turning to anything religious made things worse

11:47- I felt like I HAD to leave

12:03- I felt like I was being cut off from everything I desired

12:07- Reading my patriarchal blessing was the worst

12:24-I felt like I’d ruined my eternity

12:40-What happened when I told my companions my thoughts

14:27-It felt like a hopeless, unfixable problem 

14:46-I was praying to die

15:08-How “Popcorn Popping” describes anxiety

16:56-Supporting my physical body with vitamins & minerals

17:25-When I got home I was still in a really dark place

18:59-It was a living mental hell

19:45-How taking vitamins helped

20:02-I did not want to meet with counselors

20:55-Getting connected with a therapist who specializes in scrupulosity

21:10-The anxiety cycle

22:53-I realized how I was fueling the anxiety cycle

23:50-Exposure therapy to break the anxiety cycle

24:54-Exposure therapy with the Book of Mormon

27:33-The Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus

28:16-I accepted the problem was anxiety & Not me

29:20-When I began to notice miracles in my healing

29:50-Trying to find words for what my healing felt like

30:53-Trying to get back out on my mission

33:04-Seeking God’s Will

33:32-“This didn’t come as a surprise to God”

34:57-Perfectionism played a part

36:33-Experiencing hope by hearing other’s similar struggles

38:00-God told me “Sariah-It is finished”

39:25-He called me to the DR but that was not my mission

40:17-Jesus is a God of miracles

40:26-Concluding Testimony in Spanish & English 

Music: Vlad Gluschenko — Positive Thinking
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en