How to balance my faith while dealing with a mental illness?

This post may be all over the place. I am born and confirmed Catholic, and also am diagnosed with Bipolar 2. My mother is highly religious and has Bipolar 1. My mother had two episodes of psychosis in my childhood that involved extreme religious delusions, including speaking in tongues and being convinced we were demonic, among other things. My mother is very devout in her faith, and while she is properly medicated now, there have been a few instances where the onset of mania was caught prior to psychosis due to her being even more heavily interested in religion then usual.

I give this backstory to say, I’ve recently been feeling inclined to become more involved in my faith. I’ve always been religious but more so when it’s convenient for me. However, with this calling, I’ve also felt an intense fear of my genetic predisposition and the possibility of becoming “obsessive” for lack of a better word, and triggering the same type of delusions.

I understand this is a rather unique circumstance, just hoping maybe anyone has advice on how they manage to balance a strong faith while lacking strong mental health?

Posted Feb 25, 2026, 9:05 PM UTC

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