Articles
A Brief Note On Depression
Wilson Adams and David Lanphear, co-authors of the book "A Life Lost ... And Found," will be with us in a few months to guide us in a study of dealing with grief and tragedy. This book excerpt from Wilson may whet our appetite for the series:
If the "greats" of the Bible had their down time and blue Mondays; days when they couldn’t get up out of the pit, why does it surprise us that we have the same trouble? Depression is sticky and it’s easy to get stuck. For example, self-pity surfaces as you see others enjoying good health and good times and you wish desperately for the same. The simple scene of a couple holding hands in the store may trigger a pity party and you realize now more than ever that we live in a ‘couple’ world, and you sense the you’re on the outside looking in.
Depression doesn’t arrive with a quick-and-easy fix. You don’t arise in the morning, greet the new day with a scriptural quotation -- "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!" -- and presto! Goodbye depression, hello hope. It doesn’t work that way.
A few need medical help to conquer it. Sometimes Christians view physicians that treat the mind as spiritually suspect. ... "Just read your Bible and pray!" is the quick-and-easy answer given as the cure-all to every problem, but there are some experiencing the depth of depression to such a point that a chemical imbalance has occurred requiring medical attention. And that’s okay. God has provided mankind with wonderful discoveries of science that have helped to lift the grieving out of the valley and back to level land. (page 96)
