TLC’s Amy Duggar Shades Jinger’s Mental Health Post: ‘Anxiety Isn’t Something You Can Pray Away’
Mental health is nothing to take lightly — which is why Amy King (née Duggar) chose to speak out after her cousin Jinger Vuolo (née Duggar) shared a post about anxiety. On Instagram, Jinger encouraged her followers to turn to “thankful prayer” when they’re feeling anxious, insisting God would help. However, Amy doesn’t exactly agree with that approach.
“I am a Christian, and anxiety isn’t something you can ‘pray away’ in my opinion,” Amy, 33, wrote in an Instagram comment after blogger Katie Joy shared a discussion about Jinger’s post on her Without a Crystal Ball page. “Sure, prayer does help me when I feel extremely [overwhelmed], but it’s OK to seek counseling and take medication,” the 19 Kids and Counting cousin continued. “It’s OK to not be OK.”
Amy assured Duggar fans upset by the post that “nobody should be ashamed” of seeking treatment for their mental health struggles. “For some, it’s truly a daily battle,” she said. “Mental health is serious, and depression can seriously cripple people. Taking the proper steps to help you cope and hopefully overcome your anxiety is no easy task.”
This isn’t the first time the so-called rebel cousin spoke out against her family. In March, after doing an interview for the Without a Crystal Ball YouTube channel that was later pulled, she seemingly called out her relatives for “silencing” her. “I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again,” she tweeted at the time. “‘A [woman’s] voice should never be silenced.’”
She also supported her cousin-in-law Derick Dillard when he spoke about his fraught relationship with his in-laws. Through Instagram comments, Jill Dillard’s husband explained that he and his wife weren’t allowed at Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s house without permission, leading them to have a complicated relationship with the rest of the Counting On crew. He also claimed the Duggars and TLC pressured the couple to stay on the show after they expressed a desire to leave, admitting they even worried they might be sued by the family if they quit.
When Amy saw what Derick, 31, had to say, she encouraged him to continue speaking his truth. “You really are shedding some light on some very dark gray areas!” she told him. “Keep it up!”
Amy clearly loves her cousins — but they’ve got some major differences in beliefs, and she’s not afraid to make her voice heard.
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