“Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.” (Ps. 31:9-10, NIV)
Most people sometimes struggle with feelings of despondency/dejectedness, and in the previous teachings we discussed this in quite a bit of detail. The pathological condition of depression is something totally different from a tendency towards feelings depressed. Depression is a complex and varied mental state which is a combination of genetic factors, neurochemical conditions, environmental factors, certain events from the past, especially of a traumatic nature, as well as lifestyle.
From Gary R. Collins’ guide, Christian Counseling: A Comprehensive Guide, and Josh McDowell’s Handbook on Counseling Youth, we can, from a spiritual perspective, discern eight main reasons for depression:
- biological factors
- the sense of being trapped and unable to remedy an intolerable situation
- being rejected by one or both parents
- abuse
- negative thoughts
- continuous stress
- repressed anger
- a deep-seated feeling of guilt
In his guide: The Christian Counselor’s Manual (p. 375), Jay Adams, however, makes the following important observation: “the important fact to remember is that depression does not result directly from any one of these factors, but rather comes from a cyclical process in which the initial problem is mishandled in such a way that it is enlarged in downward helixical spirals that eventually plunge one into despair. The downward cycle of sin moves from a problem to a faulty, sinful response, thereby causing an additional complicating problem which is met by an additional sinful response, etc.”
Remember that Adams is here not using the term ‘sin’ within its popular meaning of something you have done wrong, but within its true meaning: to miss the purpose you were created for. The spirit of perversion has infiltrated and thus dis-aligned your life to such an extent that you are completely out of line with God’s plan for your life.
We are thus not going to work through the list given above, as the statement Adams make is of great importance in the handling of depression. If depression has not been caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, there is often a root wound or original wound that brings about the festering of depression. In the following teachings we will examine this.
- Selah: Examine the existence of the eight origins of depression in your life.
- Read: 22-24.
- Memorise: 22:6.
For a more in-depth understanding: Consult any of the reference guides mentioned in the tex
