“But God, Who comforts and encourages and refreshes and cheers the depressed and the sinking …”
(2 Cor. 7:6, AMPL)
The spirit of perversion works in various ways within believers, and often in such an invisible way that we merely recognise its fruit in our lives without knowing what the deeper root may be.
What would you guess do the following famous figures have in common? Jim Carrey, Winston Churchill, Leonard Cohen, Diana Princess of Wales, Ernest Hemingway, Billy Joel, Martin Luther, Michelangelo, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Isaac Newton, Brad Pitt, J. K. Rowling, Robbie Williams, Oprah Winfrey? Or even Biblical figures such as Joseph, Moses, Elijah, David, Job and Jeremiah?
They are all people who suffer(ed) from depression. Depression is often commonly seen as an illness of our time, but as a condition it is indeed centuries old.
Believers often try to employ their faith to combat depression, but this alas seldom happens, and has nothing to do with a lack of faith on their part. There is an immense misunderstanding about this illness, which we would like to discuss in this teaching. For a person who truly suffers from depression it is very frustrating when others consider it a mere superficial emotion that the sufferer should just be able to “snap out of”. Prov. 25:20 (GNB) aptly states: “Singing to a person who is depressed is like taking off a person’s clothes on a cold day or like rubbing salt in a wound.” The Message translates Nehemiah’s depression as follows: “So he asked me, ‘Why the long face? You’re not sick are you? Or are you depressed?’ That made me all the more agitated.” (Neh. 2:2).
According to the standard source, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a person is formally diagnosed with depression if he/she displays at least five of the following symptoms:
- a depressed mood, almost every day, for the largest part of the day
- a clearly discernible lack of joy/pleasure in life or fulfilment in almost all activities engaged in
- definitive weight loss (without being on a diet), or weight gain, and a clear change in appetite
- insomnia (lack of sleep) or hypersomnia (sleeping too much)
- psychomotor irritation (can’t sit still) or psychomotoric impairment (sits unnaturally still for long periods of time)
- complete lack of energy
- a feeling of complete inadequacy, or pressing feelings of guilt
- an inability to concentrate or make decisions
- recurring thoughts about death and/or suicide
It is important to note that at least five of these symptoms should manifest at the same time over a period of two weeks before a diagnosis of depression is possible.
In terms of these guidelines most people only feel dejected or despondent, and are not clinically depressed. IT IT VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU REALISE THIS IF YOU ARE PERHAPS PRONE TO DEPRESSIVE THOUGHTS AT TIMES, TO NOT SPEAK OVER YOURSELF THAT YOU SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION. You are merely dejected and this is largely because of either hard circumstances, or medical reasons.
All people sometimes experience feelings of despondency – it can have a vast range of origins, as normal life happens around us. It is in other words situational, and you can often pinpoint the reason for your despondency if you think about it – you perhaps feel that your work is suffocating you and that you no longer have the energy for it; hormonal changes; you may feel that the whole world is against you because of one or two mishaps; having to deal with the consequences of simple negligence or chronic procrastination; a guilty conscience about something you know you did wrong (and the fear of being caught out), or that robs you of an open relationship with God; self-pity about a particular loss; things that went differently than you had hoped; bad feelings concerning how others treated you; a lack of money, health, job prospects; worrying about situations you can’t do much about, and much more. At times one is dejected if there is no change of prospects in the future, or because you are dead-bored with your life and circumstances.
Before we thus speak about the spiritual handling of depression, let us first discuss the perversity of despondency. I specifically refer to it as such because circumstances can often drench us in such despondency that we feel like we’re unable to deal with our life or the difficult circumstances we are faced with. The Bible does not shy away from this term, and even though it is at times referred to as depression, it is not the pathological condition we described above – it is largely based on circumstances. A hand full of examples to illustrate this; almost all the cases mentioned above are represented within the diversity of these examples:
- “When Cain became very upset and depressed, the LORD asked Cain, ‘Why are you so upset? Why are you depressed?’” (Gen. 4:5-6, ISV).
- “Then Rebecca said to Isaac, ‘I am deeply depressed because of these daughters of Heth. If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!’” (Gen. 27:46, NET).
- “When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were looking depressed.” (Gen. 40:6, NET).
- “And Moses spake these words unto all the sons of Israel, and the people were greatly depressed.” (Num. 14:39, Rotherham).
- “Hannah responded, ‘No, sir. I’m not drunk. I’m depressed. I’m pouring out my heart to the LORD. ‘” (1Sam. 1:15, GW).
- “’Why are you so depressed these past few mornings,’ Jonadab asked Amnon, ‘since you’re a son of the king? Why not tell me?’ Amnon replied, ‘I’m in love with my brother Absalom’s sister Tamar.’” (2 Sam. 13:4, ISV).
- “So Tamar stayed there at the home of her brother Absalom and was depressed.” (2 Sam. 13:20, GW).
- “The king went back home to Samaria, worried and depressed.” (1 Kings 20:43, GNB).
- “So Ahab went home, angry and depressed because of what Naboth had told him. He lay on his bed, just staring at the wall and refusing to eat a thing. Izevel his wife went and said to him, ‘Why are you so depressed that you refuse to eat?’” (1 Kings 21:4-5, CEV).
- “During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year that Artaxerxes was king, I served him his wine, as I had done before. But this was the first time I had ever looked depressed.” (Neh. 2:1, CEV) .
- “Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? I am deeply depressed; therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.” (Ps. 42:5-6. csb).
- “They have set a snare for my feet, which makes me depressed.” (Ps. 57:6a, ISV).
- “I thought about all my hard work, and I felt depressed.” (Lam. 2:20, CEV).
- “That’s all I ever think about, and I am depressed.” (Lam. 3:20, CEV).
- “Dispirited, depressed in their forced idleness– everyone who works for a living, jobless.” (Isa. 19:10, MSG).
- “I was depressed and ill for several days.” (Dan. 8:27, GNB).
- “I am depressed!1 Indeed, it’s as if the summer fruit has been gathered, and the grapes have been harvested. There is no grape cluster to eat, no fresh figs that I crave so much.” (Mic. 7:1, NET).
- “And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be greatly amazed, and deeply depressed.” (Mark 14:33, EMTV).
- “These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself ‘truth’.” (2 Tim. 3:6, MSG).
It is strangely comforting to know that so many Biblical figures also struggled with despondency.
Despite the physical circumstances there are also various other factors that can cause despondency: eating too little, or eating too much, stimulants (prescription drugs, illegal drugs, caffeine); low blood sugar; allergies; heavy metal poisoning; microbiological imbalances; toxins, medical conditions (like a stroke, heart problems, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and thyroid problems); and even sunlight deprivation.
Gary R. Collins, in his Christian Counseling: A Comprehensive Guide (p. 107), makes this important statement about the possible physical reasons for feeling dejected: “Depression often has a physical basis. At the simplest level, we know that lack of sleep, insufficient exercise, the side effects of drugs, physical illnesses, or improper diet can all creation depression. Thousands of women experience depression as part of a monthly premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and some are victimized by postpartum depression following childbirth. Other physical influences, like neurochemical malfunctioning, brain tumours, or glandular disorders, are more complicated creators of depression. There is evidence that depression runs in families and may have a genetic basis.”
In these cases medical help is incredibly important in dealing with the illness or lack, and a change of disposition will kick in once the body starts healing. Not everything is always spiritual in nature. Those that are sick, Jesus suggests in Mark 2:17, need a doctor. Selah.
In the light of everything mentioned above, it is firstly important to realise that the pathological state of depression (which we will return to in more detail at a later stage) is something completely different from a tendency towards depression, or rather: despondency or feeling dejected. The latter possibly has a medical origin, or is based on difficult circumstances that brings about such a feeling or mood. In the following teaching we offer the Biblical perspective on this.
- Selah: Do you suffer from despondency, or from depression? Do you know someone who
suffers from it?
- Read: 7-15
- Memorise: 8:30-31 (in the light of 1 Cor. 1:24)
- For a more in-depth understanding: Read any of the books mentioned above.
