Depression is commonly misunderstood, especially among the Christian community. I’ve heard pastors say this line over and over again: “You don’t need pills, you don’t need medicine or any other worldly way of dealing with something -- you just need Jesus!” Science would plead otherwise, and so would those Christians who struggle with depression.
It is more than just being lazy. It’s more than feeling sad. It is actually an imbalance of hormones within the body. Depression makes being motivated hard; in really bad cases, it paralyzes people and prevents them from continuing their daily lives. Some stay in bed all day and night with the feeling of emptiness, not laziness or carelessness.
Do we need Jesus to overcome depression? Absolutely. Is it enough to just say, “Ah, just trust God. If you trusted Him, you wouldn’t be depressed. Just get over it?” Absolutely not.
If you are like me, who likes all-natural, God-made (as opposed to man-made) remedies, pills aren’t the first answer. Neither is “just getting over it.” So what can we do at the first sign of depression beginning to crawl into our lives?
Be with people. When I felt depression for the first time in my life, I did not want to do anything. I didn’t want to do homework or go to class. I didn’t want to go out to the store. I didn’t even want to hang out with my friends. All I wanted to do was sit on my couch and stare off, while thinking about nothing – which, for a 22-year-old, newly married, last-semester senior, is scary. I can usually never stop thinking.
What I found was that, the more I was alone, the more I didn’t want to be with people, and the more I wasn’t with people, the worse my depression got. The deeper it pulled me.
I also didn’t want anyone to know, since I didn’t think I should’ve been depressed. I have a husband, but that doesn’t replace the need for others and it certainly doesn’t erase my insecurities or fear of vulnerability. I am graduating this semester. I have a cute little apartment. There seems to be no reason for me to be depressed, so I was embarrassed. So many people have struggled with depression at least once in their lifetime. Talk to those you trust. It helps to know that you’re not the only one combating it, and that others are there for you as well.
Remember truth. Take time to flip through your Bible and write down on a sheet of paper the passages you have highlighted that have to do with depression. Even use the tool of the Internet to find verses that talk about the joy of the Lord! There are so many. After you’re done, tape it to the wall so you see it every day. Sit and read it over and over again. Pray over it. And keep on reading and praying until you begin to believe those verses again. Jesus said He came so that our joy might be full. The more you fill your mind with the truth, the more the lies will be expelled.
Eat. Don’t under-eat, don’t overeat and don’t eat junk. Eat clean and healthy, and continue to exercise to get your happy endorphins going. This combination is crucial for hormone balance. Take vitamins: Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin D and other things that your body may be lacking.
Find the kind of exercise you like, and commit to doing it three to four times a week at least. And find an accountability partner to encourage you on the days you really don’t want to do it.
Press on. Greater things await you. You were made for a purpose, and you were made for the King. Know that if you’re suffering, you’re in His good company, which will be manifested one day soon.
“For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” – 2 Corinthians 1:5
“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” - Isaiah 26:3
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” – John 15:11
