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Can A True Christian Be Depressed?

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  • Can A True Christian Be Depressed?

    What do we say to those suffering?

    Link

    -----

    If you are a true Christian, will you ever despair? Let's plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

    The church has been sorely lacking when it comes to issues of mental health, at least here in the West. It's a subject that's very relevant to my wife and I seeing as we both have Aspergers and she has Borderline Personality Disorder on top of that which comes with depression. We are sadly disappointed by how the Christian community usually handles the problems.

    This isn't to say that all of them are like that. My wife and I both attend a Celebrate Recovery program which is an excellent program when it comes to these issues. I encourage Christians struggling with things like pornography and such to go find a Celebrate Recovery.

    Too many Christians instead start looking down on a Christian struggling with depression. We can ask if a Christian should be depressed and if they should be depressed over what they are depressed over, but to ask if a Christian should be depressed is a strange question. After all, our Lord was said to be a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering and you can go through the Pauline epistles and regularly find Paul talking about his pain for the churches and what he was going through.

    Not only that, when they confess that they are depressed, then we don't help them often. Instead, we say things that make them feel worse. What do I have in mind? Well....

    "You must not have a lot of faith."

    "You must be dealing with some sin."

    "Have you repented of everything?"

    "Christians are supposed to have joy."

    "Your prayer life must be lacking."

    "Go read the Bible and pray."

    "Maybe you need a demon cast out of you."

    "Good Christians don't get depressed."

    I am sure I could add many more. The problem with these is they don't really take the time to listen to what is going on with the person. The whole philosophy seems to be that we can't have a depressed person in our midst. I mean, it would be absolutely awful if people realized people in the church have struggles and weaknesses."

    There could even be some truth sometimes to some of these. For instance, sometimes if someone is depressed, it could be because of sin. At that point, we need to work with them and see what it could be and once they ask forgiveness for it, leave it there. Many women can be depressed after getting an abortion and many men after encouraging the women to do so. When this comes out, let the church be the place of forgiveness and then bring it up no more.

    We also need to realize that many times we can't control our feelings as much as we would like. Feelings and emotions come and arise and sometimes we don't have anything to do with them or know what causes them. Sometimes I can experience some sadness and I don't know why. It just happens. I try to move on.

    That being said, we have much more control over what we do than we realize. Getting depressed isn't necessarily a choice, but choosing to engage in self-harm or isolation or something of that sort is. I'm not saying it is an easy choice, but it is a choice.

    There have been some times where I have had to have my wife hospitalized due to depression and those are tragic times to me. When those times come, I really don't want to do anything and I have to push myself to do the blog or any apologetics. Whenever I get the chance, I visit her in the hospital, and sometimes I have been very concerned.

    There are hospitals out there that do not have good treatment for their patients and the cleanliness and such of the hospital is quite poor. I am left thinking that we wouldn't put up with this for our physical hospitals. Why do we give our mental hospitals the sort of leftovers?

    There are many organizations that people support for physical health such as cancer and other diseases, and we should. Mental health often seems to get the shaft. Many times when we think about mental health? People who do things like mass shootings. As soon as one of these takes place, mental health issues are brought up. It seems foreign to people that sometimes people do evil not because of mental problems, but because they're, well, evil.

    If someone comes to church and we hear that they have cancer, we have a prayer vigil and such, and we should. We don't seem to treat mental health issues the same way. It's okay to have cancer in the church. It's not okay to have depression.

    This is especially relevant since many who struggle with this can after some time possibly wrestle with suicide. How can it be we let this happen and yet people are scared to come to the church and talk about these issues? Can you imagine someone struggling with depression being scared to talk to Jesus about it in His earthly ministry? By the way, His earthly ministry hasn't ended. We're supposed to continue it, and if people don't want to come to us when they would to Jesus, we are doing it wrong.

    Part of the Christian life is ups and downs. We will all have them. If we want to ask about why someone doesn't have joy when they have Jesus, let's ask ourselves first. I sometimes wonder why I can seem to get excited about many more things in my life than about Jesus.

    If we ask how a Christian can struggle with depression, let's ask how they can struggle with pornography or gluttony or greed or anything else. All Christians have some sort of struggle. If you are reading this as a Christian, you have a struggle. The sin that seriously tempts you might be something I don't get bothered by in the least. Perhaps you couldn't walk past a bar without being tempted to drink alcohol. I have zero temptation there, but maybe you're less tempted with pride than I am. We all have something.

    I'm also definitely not opposed to Scripture and prayer, but there's a danger in treating them like a magic charm. "Go and read Psalm X and you will feel just fine!" You can get great comfort and encouragement, but it doesn't mean the problem goes away.

    We should also definitely be encouraging therapy for these people who struggle, but when they come to you with a struggle, they don't really usually want you to do something about the problem. If you can, great, but one of the best things you can say is absolutely nothing. Just listen. Give a hug. (By the way, I encourage women to share with women and men with men. It's way too easy for any emotional closeness like that to turn into sexual closeness that it shouldn't.)

    There's also no sin in taking medication for this. If there is something going on with the brain, this isn't wrong. Medication can't be the cure-all and consistently, therapy does better than medication, but it can be an aid. Christians struggling with depression don't need the added weight put on their shoulders of being told they're deficient in Christianity due to having depression or taking medication.

    Your church has people in it that are hurting greatly. Please always keep that in mind and be willing to be a listening ear and a friend. Do something simple for them. Just taking a friend in need out to lunch might seem small, but it could mean immensely more to the person who gets it.

    In Christ,
    Nick Peters

  • #2
    Great post Nick. This is a subject I take seriously.
    3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures --1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (borrowed with gratitude from 37818's sig)

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    • #3
      Despondency is often a major theme in (Eastern) ascetic writings; it's right up there with pride as one of the most difficult things to overcome.
      Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

      Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
      sigpic
      I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

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      • #4
        I mean looking at some christian writers I have seen a lot of anguish.
        Kierkegaard.
        C.S Lewis's a frief observed.
        If i remember right didnt Elijah want to die at one point?
        sigpic

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        • #5
          Scattered brain-droppings...

          -- To me, the book of Ecclesiastes reads rather like the diary of a depressed person.

          -- One can find online an interesting video of Piper and J-Mac discussing depression. Piper went through a 10-year bout of it. J-Mac was astonished; he had of course experienced sadness from time to time, but never "depression," and the idea it could last ten years amazed him. I almost got the idea that if not for his friend Piper's testimony, J-Mac would have been one of those people who believe "Troo Christians" don't suffer depression.

          -- One can kind of recognize a person who doesn't understand depression when that person says, "What are you depressed about?" "Sadness" usually has a focus, a thing to be "about," but "depression" often does not.

          -- I mostly get the "depression without feelings of sadness" form: Anxiety, insecurity, inability to focus, lack of mental and/or physical energy, apathy, lethargy, anhedonia. About one day a week I get a heavy (and that is how it feels) dose of that, plus general malaise, anorexia, increased achiness, extreme hopelessness. But a good sleep usually fixes it pretty well.

          One of the worst aspects is when easy things "feel" difficult. I've seen quotes online along the lines of, "I should get off the couch and fix myself a sandwich, but that would be like climbing Mt. Everest, so screw it." And rationally, you KNOW the task is easy, so that makes the feeling all the more frustrating.

          -- People have well-meaning suggestions that work for some, but everyone is different. Some people respond well to "praise" music. For me, on "bad" days, it tends to amplify the negative feelings. Likewise nice, pleasant sunlight.

          Various other suggestions may or may not be useful. When one feels like one is wearing a heavy wet blanket and dragging chains, and has to marshal all one's energy to slowly and laboriously fix a small meal, or when one barely has the mental energy to follow a TV program, the idea of "doing" various suggestions is just not feasible.

          -- For me, the thing that helps most is not being alone, but I only have limited control over that.
          Geislerminian Antinomian Kenotic Charispneumaticostal Gender Mutualist-Egalitarian.

          Beige Federalist.

          Nationalist Christian.

          "Everybody is somebody's heretic."

          Social Justice is usually the opposite of actual justice.

          Proud member of the this space left blank community.

          Would-be Grand Vizier of the Padishah Maxi-Super-Ultra-Hyper-Mega-MAGA King Trumpius Rex.

          Justice for Ashli Babbitt!

          Justice for Matthew Perna!

          Arrest Ray Epps and his Fed bosses!

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          • #6
            Book recommend: Time and Despondency: Regaining the Present in Faith and Life by Nicole Roccas

            I and my priest picked it up quite independently, and both of us have found it helpful.
            Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

            Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
            sigpic
            I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

            Comment

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