Christians Get Depressed Too

by David P. Murray

There is also the oft-mistaken tendency to locate the cause of our mental suffering in our spiritual life, in our relationship with God, which also increases false guilt and feelings of worthlessness.

Increased understanding of depression will make us more sympathetic and useful to people suffering from it. If we saw someone fighting for life in the midst of a freezing blizzard, the last

thing we would do is take his coat away. Such an action would be cruel and heartless and could easily lead to death. But, the Bible says, we are effectively doing the same thing if we try to help a depressed friend with superficial humor and insensitive exhortations to cheer up (Prov. 25:20).

Like all affliction in the lives of Christians, depression should be viewed as a talent (Matt. 25:14–30) that can be invested in such a way that it brings benefit to us and others as well as glory to God.

God often uses broken people. In Passion and Purity, Elisabeth Elliot quotes Ruth Stull of Peru: “If my life is broken when given to Jesus, it is because pieces will feed a multitude, while a loaf will

As I look around me, and especially as I look around the church, I can see many people who have not been diagnosed with depression and who are not disabled by it, but who are experiencing long-term, low-level depression-anxiety, which is having its own side effect on their bodily health and spiritual lives. It would not be too difficult for them to learn some sound strategies and techniques that will improve mental health and, consequently, their bodily and spiritual health.

In our study of and in our contact with those suffering from depression, let’s avoid unfounded and unwarranted dogmatism. And let’s study, listen, and speak with humility and an awareness of our own ignorance and insufficiency when faced with the complex and often mysterious causes and consequences of depression.

There are three simplistic extremes that we should avoid when considering the cause of depression: first, that it is all physical; second, that it is all spiritual; third, that it is all mental. Let’s examine these three positions.

Following logically from Adams’s belief that bad feelings are the result of bad actions is the usual nouthetic remedy: “If you do right, you feel right.” If you get depressed because of sinful behavior, then, obviously, you get better by righteous behavior.

Adams says, “This movement from down (not depression) to down and out (depression) occurs whenever one handles down feelings sinfully (thus incurring guilt and more guilt feelings), by following them rather than his responsibilities before God.”4

While most depressed Christians will feel that their relationship with God is all wrong and all to blame, this overly self-critical feeling is usually one of the fruits of depression and, therefore, is often wrong. It is important for Christians in such situations to doubt, question, and even challenge the accuracy of their feelings, as they usually do not reflect the facts.

All this reminds us that the prescription of solutions is often a matter that takes much time, and even trial and error. There are usually no quick fixes. For Christians there will often need to be a balance between medicines for the brain, rest for the body, counsel for the mind, and spiritual encouragement for the soul. Recovery will usually take patient perseverance over a period of many months, and in some cases, even years.

We will answer the question “What is depression?” by looking at how it is related to and reflected in five areas of our lives: our life situation, our thoughts, our feelings, our bodies, and our behavior.

them. False feelings-based reasoning People suffering from depression tend to take their emotions as the truth. They let their feelings determine the facts. Life example: You feel useless and conclude that you are useless. Spiritual example: You feel unforgiven and

False feelings-based reasoning People suffering from depression tend to take their emotions as the truth. They let their feelings determine the facts. Life example: You feel useless and conclude that you are useless. Spiritual example: You feel unforgiven and

conclude you are unforgiven. You feel cut off from God and conclude that you are cut off from God. Biblical example: At one of his low points, David felt and hastily concluded that he was cut off from God. “I said in ...

One of the first steps in getting better is recognizing these false thinking patterns, which do not reflect reality.

Although to any outside observer your past and your present may be replete with examples of God’s good favor toward you, you feel that God has either become your enemy or else has given up on you. You feel as if you are in spiritual darkness. The Bible is a “dead” book to you, and prayer is almost impossible.

you’d have gone. If He’d said, “I want you to be a missionary,” you’d have gone (possibly reluctantly, depending upon your own hopes and desires!). But because He has said, “Sit there and be depressed for a bit, it will teach you some important lessons,” you don’t feel that it is God calling you at all ... do you?

When you begin to think in this fashion your guilt feelings start to drop away. You can begin to understand that what is happening is part of God’s plan for you—and so your depression is not a punishment from God. You are actually where God wants you to be, even if it is emotionally painful. To put it another way, if God wants you to go through this it would be wrong for you to avoid it, wouldn’t it?7

It is in childhood that these central ways of seeing things are first learned from your relationship with important people such as parents, brothers or sisters. In these relationships you should have received love, consistency and support, but sometimes the opposite occurs—rejection and inconsistency—and this can undermine us as we grow up. These central ways of seeing things are called core beliefs. Common core beliefs may be based around positive themes such as seeing yourself as good or successful at something, or more negative themes such as being a failure, bad, worthless, unlovable, incompetent, foolish or weak. Most people develop a range of both positive and negative core beliefs during their childhood and these can stay with us into our adult lives.1

Sometimes the church can reinforce or add to false thinking patterns by focusing on the things that the Bible forbids and how far short people’s lives fall from biblical standards, and this may discourage or depress people, especially when they aren’t consistently assured of Christ’s forgiveness and grace.

If you feel like you did something very wrong, and you want to manage your sin apart from the cross of Jesus, depression is inevitable. We always want to believe that we can do something—like feeling really bad for our sins—but that is just pride. We actually think that we can pay God back, but this attitude minimizes the beauty of the cross and Jesus’ full payment for sin.

Nutritionists have demonstrated how certain foods can affect our moods and thoughts, our feeling and thinking. Emotions can also be affected by exhaustion, diabetic hypos, exercise, hormonal changes, gland disorders, high blood pressure, and even sunshine.

God has wise and loving motives and purposes in all His dealings with His children. The Westminster Confession of Faith says that God will sometimes allow His children to descend into the depths of depression “to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon Himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends” (WCF 5.5, emphasis added).

Sometimes we take God’s presence in our lives for granted. We forget what we might be without Him. He may wisely, temporarily, and proportionately withdraw the sense of His favor and presence to remind us of our state without Him and to lead us to greater thankfulness and appreciation for Him.

Doctors and pastors are often faced with the frustrating situation of people who need the help they can give, yet are not taking the steps required to benefit from this help. Perhaps they have just learned to live with the problem.

Perhaps they have given up hope of getting better. Perhaps they lack the will to play their part in the healing process. Perhaps they are frightened of all the responsibilities of life that would come upon them should they be viewed as well again. Perhaps they would miss the attention and sympathy that being ill may generate. These are all possibilities. So, if you are depressed, the first searching question you must ask yourself is, “Do I want to be made whole?”

Depressed people often find it difficult to resist being guided by their feelings. When a person feels down he will often do only what he feels like doing and avoid what he doesn’t feel like doing. For example, if you are depressed and you don’t feel like getting up, you won’t. If you don’t feel like working, you won’t. If you don’t feel like doing the laundry, you won’t. If you feel you want to drink or eat to excess, you do it. A positive step in recovering from depression is to restore order and discipline in your life. Regular and orderly sleeping, eating, and working patterns will rebuild a sense of usefulness and healthy self-esteem. It is also glorifying to God who is a God of order, not of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33).

Recreation Moderate physical exercise helps to expel unhelpful chemicals from our system and stimulates the production of helpful chemicals. Outdoor exercise has the added benefit of the sun’s healing rays.

A Christian psychologist recently said to me that he starts most depressed people on three pills: “Good exercise, good diet, and good sleep!”

Many Christians who wouldn’t think of viewing God’s Word in a false way still make the mistake of viewing God’s world in a false way. As they view themselves, their situations, and their relationships with others, they tend to dwell on and magnify the negatives and exclude the positives. This distorted view of reality inevitably depresses their mood.

Have a set time for reading your Bible and praying. Depressed Christians may either give up reading and praying, or they may try to read and pray excessively in order to try and bring back their spiritual feelings. Both approaches are unhelpful. Instead, set aside a regular time each day to read and pray. If concentration is a problem, keep things short (5–10 minutes) until you feel better. Setting unrealistic spiritual goals will only deepen depression.

Bring objective truth to mind (for example, the doctrine of justification or the atonement), especially positive verses that set forth God’s love, mercy, and grace for sinners (for example, Rom. 8:1; 8:38–39; 1 John 1:9; 1 John 4:9–10). You may want to write out a verse and carry it around with you. When negative thoughts overwhelm you, bring out the verse and meditate upon it.

When you pray, tell God exactly how you feel. Be totally honest. Ask God to help you with your doubts and fears and to restore to you the joy of salvation. Thank Him for loving you and being with you even though you do not feel His love or presence. Praying for others who suffer can also help to turn your thoughts away from yourself for a time.

seek out the fellowship of one or two sympathetic Christians you can confide in, and ask them to pray with yo...

who you talk to. Sadly, some Christians cannot keep confidences, and others will have little understanding of...

Ask someone to help you and keep you accountable. Focus on one problem at a time. Decide on the best solution. Write out a step-by-step plan. Set realistic short-term and long-term targets. Review to correct and also to encourage.

The presence, the availability, just the existence of a friend like this provides a tremendous degree of comfort to the depressed person, as it demonstrates in physical terms how much he is cared for, accepted, loved, as he is, warts and all. It is not difficult for the depressed person to go on to realise that if individual Christians can love him that much, how much more will God do the same.... Unconditional friendship is the key, as is loyalty. The real friends are the ones who can accept the depressed person as he is—on good days, bad days, sad days, frightened

days and angry days. Friends like this don’t put pressure on in any way, but allow the sufferer to be himself, however horrid that may seem to be. As one of my depressed friends said, “It’s a relief not to have to put on a disguise.”3

The church should be especially aware of the need to support the supporters. To be an effective support to the mentally ill is physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually demanding. As

Christians we need to be conscious of the need not only to support depressed people but also to minister to the needs of their nearest and dearest.

There is still a stigma attached to mental illness and to depression in particular. Ignorance and misunderstanding have filled the public mind with many prejudices and falsehoods. As a result, many still view disorders such as depression as a choice or as a sign of weakness or as an excuse to opt out of life. Depressed people may also share these mistaken beliefs, which increases their sense of guilt and failure. Consequently, they will often be reluctant to admit what th...

Secrecy Because of the stigma attached to mental illness, it often takes a huge amount of courage for someone to admit to depression, often due to the fear of what people will say. If someone, therefore, trusts you enough to confide in you, then you must maintain the strictest confidence. There must be no “sanctified” gossip: “I’m just telling you this so that you can pray about it.” It is tragic that so many depressed Christians have to prolong their

secret suffering because of a justified fear that no one can keep a secret in the church. The church is in desperate need of Christians who are known to have this simple talent—they keep confidences.

Other Christians misconstrue the doctrine of original sin and total depravity to mean that there is no kind of good in anyone and fail to say anything positive to the depressed person. However, without minimizing the wickedness of the human heart and without denying our inability

to do anything pleasing to God apart from faith in Christ, we should feel free to encourage depressed people to have a more realistic view of themselves by highlighting their God-given gifts, their contributions to the lives of others, their usefulness in society, and, if they are Christians, their value to the church. For example, a depressed young mother may feel like a total failure in every area of her life because she doesn’t have a perfect home or perfect children. We can help such a person see that she achieves a lot in a day, even though she might not manage to do everything she would like. We might remind her of all the meals she makes, clothes she washes and irons, and the shopping she manages, helping her see herself and her life in a more accurate and realistic light.

In contrast to sinful forms of self-confidence and self-respect, there are also those that are good, necessary, and useful. Without a healthy sense of these, human beings cannot function well. We may pray for an appropriate sense of self-confidence and self-respect, clothed in true humility, and we must oppose everything that impedes a healthy development of these things (be it in ourselves or others) with the Word of God.6

We should encourage the depressed person to move away from the realm of the subjective and to instead think on the objective truths of Christianity, things that are true regardless of our feelings: justification, adoption, the atonement, the attributes of God, and heaven, for example.

Fifth, “the inward illumination of the Spirit of God [is] necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word.” For a saving understanding of Scripture, we need more than Scripture; we need the Holy Spirit to enlighten us.