by Scott H. Northrup
Everywhere you turn you hear more and more about a disease called depression. Is there really such a disease as depression? Or is this simply a cop-out that people use to excuse various kinds of behavior in themselves? Let me assure you that depression is not simply a thing invented by our modern pop psychology to excuse behavior and establish a victim mentality. It is a real and serious human condition that has existed throughout the ages. Depression may be a new name for it, but it's been around since the Fall of Man, and is a consequence of it.
The Bible is full of the accounts of people in the midst of depression. David writes in Psalm 116, "The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found sorrow and distress. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: O Lord, I beg You, save my life!" Job lamented, "For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, and I am not at rest, but turmoil comes." The author of Lamentations writes, "In dark places he has made me dwell, like those who have long been dead. He has walled me in so that I cannot go out; he has made my chain heavy...surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me."
Can Christians get depressed? Absolutely. That's like asking if Christians can get the flu. We're not immune from it.
Isn't depression simply a state of mind, or is it a chemical imbalance? Both. The brain is a flesh organ just like the kidney, the liver, or the heart. It can become sick just like any other organ. Just like the kidney can get out of balance and fail to produce enough insulin for the bloodstream, the nervous system can fail to produce enough of the neurotransmitting hormones to function properly.
The thoughts that continually inhabit your mind can cause this to happen in the same way that worry thoughts cause the gastric system to produce too much acid and give you a variety of gastrointestinal diseases like ulcers, colitis, acid reflux and so forth. In fact, the physical symptoms produced by worry, fear, and grief can feed back on your thinking processes and get you in a vicious cycle in which the problem can intensify.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg, the thoughts or the chemistry? It depends, but one thing is certain. You have a measure of control over the thoughts you allow yourself to think, and you can deliberately increase that measure of control. There are thought habits you can form that can begin to work your way out of depression or prevent you from getting into depression. Unfortunately, changing your thought life is not an overnight solution. It takes time and it takes work. Intentionally filling your mind with the precious promises of God can literally affect your body chemistry. Surrounding and immersing yourself in positive influences will eventually transform the way you think. There is a definite mind/body connection.
If you are deeply and seriously depressed you can and should seek medical help. It's hard to work on your problem if you can't eat, can't sleep, and can't concentrate. The measure of thought control I am talking about can become very small. In such cases you may want to consider taking an antidepressant medication. Consult your doctor.
So if I choose to get medical help and start taking an antidepressant, aren't I abandoning my faith that God and prayer will deliver? Let me ask you something. If your child was sick with pneumonia, would you choose to withhold antibiotic chemicals because you are afraid you would be abandoning your faith in God? No way, Jose! You see, it's not an either/or situation. You and God can work at the level of your thought life through scriptures and through prayer all the while an antidepressant medication is working on the physiological end of the problem.
Now it is true that we should not rely totally on medicines to fix what's wrong, because they probably won't produce a complete or lasting solution. That's true of any kind of disease. And perhaps our modern culture is beginning to simply throw medications at problems that they refuse to deal with through spiritual and psychological means. I am totally opposed to that.
The ultimate answer is in God. He has the final and complete remedy for all human ills. One scripture I have stood upon through tough times is Psalm 23, where its says, "He restoreth my soul." When Jesus Christ went to the cross to bear the sins and iniquities of us all, He also bore our griefs and sorrows. He bore the chastisement for our peace of mind. He has released power for us to be at peace in our mind. We need to learn to appropriate this power, just like we are learning to appropriate forgiveness of sins and the healing of our bodies. There's supernatural power available to heal the soul of man.
@ copyright 2002 by Scott H. Northrup. All rights reserved.