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The Taboos of Mental Illness- Part I: I Struggle with Depression, How About You?

We often tend to laugh it off or just totally not talk about it in general. But as a disciple of Christ, it is a topic that we often overlook and really need to have discussion about. Mental Illness. I do not know about you, but I struggle with mental illness. If we were all honest with ourselves, we would all realize we all struggle with some sort of mental illness, to some degree. I tell my Psychology students on day one- that if you believe you do not struggle with or have some level of mental illness, you are fooling yourself. Because I struggle with mental illness. One of those struggles is depression. I do not know about you, but this is one of a few areas that I struggle with. It seems when we want to discuss emotional/psychological disorders we always want to jump to the “demonic spirit” in an individual. However, that is so far from the truth, we have in our Christian churches and circles distorted the truth about mental illness, where it is now a taboo to even talk about. Well, I am going to start talking about it. Why? Too often, I would blame other people for why I feel so discouraged and depressed. But the reality is, this is me. This is a part of who I am and my DNA makeup. Does that give me an excuse, or free pass to be depressed? No. I struggle with being depressed at times to the point where I do not even want to get out of bed in the mornings. I do not have answers for how to “heal” me from this struggle. I begin my days by trusting the day over to the Lord and allowing Him to use me for His purposes. I regularly read the scriptures. But the feelings I have inside me sometimes overwhelm me, to where I, at times, feel alone. Maybe you have experienced this at times in your life’s journey too. What did that feel like to you?

I am constantly asking myself, when I am in these really depressed cycles, Am I to blame? Is there something I did wrong? Or is it the chemical makeup of my brain and the nurturing of my past that plays a role in this persona of my life? Where does one go for help to work through these types of struggles, like depression? For starters, do not go to the person who wants to cast out the “depression demon” from you. We give the devil way too much ground and credit for things that are not even his. Seeking help in the mental health field is a good start. For some, this is a big step. For me, it was a matter of allowing myself to submit my pride to Christ. It was a point in my life where I realized I needed to seek help. Depression was just the coating, as I began to work through some of my struggles, it was evident I was just hitting the tip of the iceberg when I discussed my depression. In fact, there were times when I just gave up, and stopped going for therapy. In the end, things got much worse, and I never did get to begin working through the bigger issues in my life. If you decide to seek professional counseling, I recommend seeing someone who is both clinically trained and disciple of Christ themselves.  Especially, if you are wanting to continue to grow as a disciple of Christ and remain faithful and obedient to His truths. What we do not want is someone from the secular side to tell us that what scripture says is irrelevant, ignorant, or no longer valid today. Or for them to tells us that we should try things that counter God’s word. For me, I talk to someone, a Christian therapist, who has helped me to see the triggers in my life that contribute to my depression and other emotional challenges. In fact, I talk to about three other people, who I have strategically put into my life to help me with these struggles. Am I successful? Not always. In fact, I fail often. I do not want to sound too much like a humanist, but as disciples of Christ, we need to consider that we are human, living in non-glorified bodies, still under the curse of Adam’s sin, and the sinful nature of man. Although we have been regenerated and are working on sanctification with Christ, we are prone to the DNA of the fall. While that doesn’t give us an excuse, we do need to realize that we are going to have challenging days where we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. Maybe that sounds familiar to what you have experienced. What do you do in time like that?

I often think about David, and how he must have felt knowing King Saul, who was once a friend, was now out to kill him. As we read the Psalms, we can clearly see that David struggled with depression, in fact, I would go a step further to say it seems to be clear that David, if he lived today, could be diagnosed with being clinically depressed.  I also think of the disciples on the road to Emmaus Luke 24:13-35. Now we do know the identification of one of the men mentioned in the text, it is apparent that these disciples were not one of the eleven. Nevertheless, they knew Christ personally. How depressed they must have felt. Their friend, the one they had spent the last three years with, the one who walked, talked, and ate with them, was ow dead and gone. This king, Messiah who was to usher in the earthly kingdom of God. With Christ being crucified, they were probably struggling with doubt, at this point, as to whether He was the Messiah who would come and reign. Now what do they do? They had this faith, this vision, that has now collapsed before them. There is no certainty now for the future. How depressing that must make someone feel. There have been times in my life where I have experienced similar things in these two stories. How has your experience encouraged you to keep walking with the Lord?

The good news is Christ came to give me life, a new life in Him. While that does not take the depression away from me, it does give me hope that Christ is with me through my valley moments. He is walking with me through my valleys like He did with David. He walks down our road of hopelessness, like he did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. He is there to hold me and carry me, if needed, so that I can continue my journey as a disciple of Christ. While I have not yet arrived, nor will I, until we are face to face with Christ, I can rest assured that Christ will walk each step of my life along side me, one step at a time.  

May you be encouraged!