An Introduction:
This Thing Called Depression

Psalm 142:6 Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low...

Depression - There is a great variety in the meaning to people. For some it means a low period, a day or two of unrest, a blue mood. For others it means the low points in their life when "bad things" happen. For some kids and young adults it is a fad. Everybody does it because it's the thing to do, and they can usually work themselves into the state when they so desire. Probably for some of these it has more to do with boredom than anything.

Then there are those for whom depression and anxiety are a reality beyond the understanding of those who have never suffered it. To some it is a recurring nuisance that disrupts and distracts on a regular basis, arthritis of the emotions if you will. To still others it is a loathsome disease, the black plague of their minds, perhaps tormenting them for months, or even years, at a time; perhaps coming at regular intervals annually. Some improve. Some do not.

For those with more anxiety than depression, it is an uncontrollable monster prone to spring at the most inconvenient times. Sometimes it's expected because of circumstances, other times it comes as a surprise.

To those who have been to the edge of insanity, or beyond, it is a dread enemy, a terror of the past and fear for the future. It is a robber of all joy and stability. For the deepest sufferers it is too often that which ultimately steals life itself from them.

No wonder then, with so many definitions in people's minds, that there are such widely varied opinions as to it's cause and it's cure.

On the extreme left we have the psychologists and psychiatrists telling us that they are absolutely necessary to us in dealing with these things. Those who would recover or be helped, they assure us, must submit to their theories, definitions, interpretations and, most of all, their drugs and counseling.

On the opposite extreme stand the religious superiors. Most of these will be in the Bible believing, evangelical, conservative, or fundamentalist categories. These would assure us (with their Bibles open or closed) that "depression is sin." "You are sinning against God when you are depressed or anxious," they stoutly proclaim. "There must be sin in your life. You need to repent and get right! Maybe you're not even saved!" They make little or no room for the needs of the body, soul, and spirit to all be treated. To their short sight it is sin or the result of it, and too often the only help they have to offer are the repeated refrains, "Stop worrying," "Give it to the Lord," and "Repent! Get right with God!"

Not surprisingly, God's word is moderate on the subject. It is "...Temperate; not excessive...not extreme in opinion...Placed between extremes; holding the mean..." (1) This is not to extol the imagined virtues for being a compromiser or "mugwump," as some might falsely assume. Rather, it is another meaning for the old adage about faucets, "Righty - tighty. Lefty - loosy." As with many things, if you go too far either direction - too tight or too loose - you will get into trouble. God's word divides right down the middle discerning between the emotions, the spirit and the body.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Only the Lord can go straight to the heart of the matter. Only He knows the heart. Man does not. (IMPORTANT - REMEMBER THIS.)

1 Samuel 16:7...for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

1 Kings 8:39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) (Emphasis added.)

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

1 John 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

By the grace of God, we desire to examine below:
A. What God's word says about depression, anxiety, etc. and those who suffer from it.
B. Some definitions of words.
C. Examples from the lives of Christians, past and present, and how the Lord helped them.
D. Some practical helps and advice for dealing with depression, anxiety and their cousins.

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(1) All definitions, unless otherwise noted, are from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language.

Unless otherwise noted, all articles in this section are by Mary Stephens (formerly Van Nattan).