Bridging the Gap

Depression: Real Answers for a Real Problem Part 1

 If you were to ask a random group of people how they would define depression, you might hear "feeling blue", "down in the dumps", or "sadness". Every person at some time in their life feels sad or blue. After all, life is tough and brings its share of difficulties! Occasionally everyone will feel mildly depressed. But what happens when depression isn't mild or brief? There are cases of depression that can be serious enough to disrupt a person's life emotionally, psychologically, spiritually and interpersonally. It can be a major cause of disability. This is called "major" or "clinical" depression. How do you know if you have major or clinical depression? The following is a list of common symptoms of clinical depression:

• You can't sleep or you sleep too much
• You can't concentrate or find that previously easy tasks are now difficult
• You feel hopeless and helpless
• You can't control your negative thoughts, no matter how hard you try
• You have lost your appetite or you can't stop eating
• Your are more irritable or short-tempered than usual
• You have thoughts that life is not worth living (if this is the case, seek help immediately)

What Causes Depression?

Major depression is a complex disorder and may have many contributing factors, such as long term stress or sickness, chemical changes in the body, patterns of negative thinking, or spiritual issues. Authors David Biebel and Harold Koenig in their book New Light on Depression, define 4 basic types of depression: 1) situational  2) developmental  3) biological and 4) spiritual depression (p.21).  Biebel and Koenig define depression as "a state of existence marked by a sense of being pressed down, weighed down, or burdened, which affects a person physically, mentally, spiritually, and relationally...[it] is not a state of mind but a state of being." (p19)

Christians and Depression

Given the above definition, can Christians get depressed? Yes! In the Bible, the prophet Elijah had just experienced an amazing spiritual victory and a death threat pushed him to his edge. He becomes lonely, discouraged and asks God to let him die (1 Kings 19:4). I've experienced depression as a Christian during some very difficult times. Thankfully, there is a way out. In the next part of this series, we'll talk about what you can do to get back to a  happier, healthier place in life!