One of the pitfalls of the healing process of mental illness is the desire to return to the mind you had before you were ill. This is sometimes possible, but more often than not a new mind must be created.
It can take a long journey, and many years, to let go of trying to go back to your old mind. But it can be done with mental discipline, medication, new thoughts, and new beliefs.
After many years we may finally stop trying to regain the mind we had before we were sick. We will learn to move forward again in our lives, with a new mind. A life so much better than the one we lost.
We will sometimes get glimpses of the immense potential, and ability, of the mind. We'll see that the mind is capable of so much more than we call upon it for in this life. With these glimpses, we can only wonder at the worlds that lie ahead of us on our journey home to God.
A mind that is wracked with the terrible pain of mental illness can go on to taste wonderful new realities. Realities that give evidence of worlds to come, worlds that are hidden from view in this life. One can only wonder at the new heaven and earth God has planned for the human race. Mental illness will not be on the earth forever. Jesus has begun the end of it.