Many people find themselves lonely and unable to reach out to individuals for help.  The causes for this can be numerous, but one that seems to be multiplying very quickly is depression.  This can strike anyone, at any time and cause him or her to turn inward away from people.  When this happens, they are extremely difficult to understand and love.  Often we have no idea why they are hurting and because they want nothing to do with us; we let them fall deeper and deeper into this black hole.  What are we to do?

    Throughout the United States, there is a disease far more deadly in many cases than any physical disease, depression.  This disease is not only affecting the secular world, but also the Christian realm.  However, Christians having this disease not only must deal with their own feelings of guilt, but also the guilt often heaped upon them by the Christian Church.  In “U.S. News & World Report” an article, entitled “Melancholy Nation,” shows the growing problem of depression.  “Depression is on a pace to be the world's second-most disabling disease (after heart disease) by the year 2020; already, the World Health Organization ranks it first among women and fourth overall.  In the United States, depression afflicts nineteen and half million people at any given time, 1 in 5 over the course of a lifetime.”  The Colorado Health Site estimates that 9.5% of Americans suffer from depression.  What is more staggering is that almost two-thirds of the cases go untreated.  The Biological Unhappiness Statistics share some of the most compelling statements of those who suffer from depression.  “I just can't seem to get started; if I die the pain will go away; I'm a nervous wreck; I get bad moods for no good reason.”  At Depression Suicide.com, this statement was compiled from individuals suffering from depression.  “We, the depressed, in our darkest hours have no energy to move, no reason to live, no will to survive, no hope in a cure, no reason to try. We roam the earth as the living dead…”  In the most vulnerable age group, adolescence and children, the National Health Association states that one in ten children have serious depression and rises to one in eight in adolescence. Both these age groups have suicide as the third leading cause of death. These are staggering statistics and since these articles were written, they have even gone higher.  What will be our response to those who are struggling with this devastating disease? 

     Oftentimes it is much easier to minister to someone suffering from a physical abnormality, suffering from Alzheimer's or any other sickness or disease that we can see and know is there.  However, depression is a disease.  When we fully understand the heartache they go through, then we will be able to minister to them.  Too often, we tell them that they should be able to trust the Lord for this illness and not seek any therapy or medication.   The church does not usually respond the same way to others that are hurting with other physical and mental deficiencies.  Why depression?  Yes, these people do often push us away and desire to become recluse because of fear and anxiety they cannot understand.  In my twenty-five years of ministry, the counseling for depression has dramatically increased.  The normal counseling session would be listening, and then telling them to trust the Lord to get them through this difficult time.  Never was their a mention of medication.  Later, after hearing the torture they were going through, I had to wrestle with the question, why is it okay to take medication for physical problems and not emotional ones?  These people are slowly dying because they have no reason to live.  They share how they would rather curl up in a blanket in a dark room than face life.  Fear, anxiety and panic attacks consume almost every moment of their life while awake.  Trying to find relief for just a few moments is what they long for everyday.  Yet, they go to bed every night hopeful that tomorrow is better, only to find that it is the same.  It is not their lack of trust in the Lord as some suggest.  They know the Scriptures of Matthew 11:28&29: “Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Many wonder why their cries appear to go unanswered when Scripture says, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry,”    Although they are continually reminded of them as the answers to their problems, for whatever reasons, they are unable to apply them to their situation.  If the Lord gave wisdom and knowledge to doctors to help in the physical realm, then He surely has given them knowledge in the emotional realm.  Paul the apostle writes more about the importance of the mind, than almost any other topic.  If medications are available to help individuals through this difficult time and make life normal for them again, then what is wrong with taking them?  Abuses take place when taking any medication; we all know this. Does this mean we turn our backs on those who really need it?   

   So, how do we respond?
  * First, put yourself in their shoes and learn more about what they are experiencing.
  * Second, be there for them. Give them a shoulder to cry on and let them know it is not their fault. 
  * Third, let them know that their faith in God is not in vain.  He still cares even though they cannot sense His presence. 
  * Fourth, if medication is prescribed and needed, then please do not make the pill harder to swallow for them.
 

  One particular young woman, who seems to have everything going for her, struggles continually with anxiety attacks.  Meeting this individual, one would think she has everything together.  However, one day I was informed she was in the psychiatric ward of the hospital.  Never in my dealings with her had I seen any indication of this problem.  I went up to the hospital to sit and listen.  She told me the pressures of a new career  caused her to want to do nothing but curl up and stay in the house.  Her fear was very real and debilitating.  She said she was afraid to tell anyone in the church for fear of being singled out and embarrassed.  After all, we should be able to overcome this, she said.  Afterwards, I was able to share with her that I to have felt that same way at times in my life and hid it the same way she did.  In letting her know this, she realized she was not alone.  She was on medication for the problem and I assured her there is no reason to feel guilt of any kind.  After just encouraging her to trust the Lord not only for wisdom in medication, but every aspect of her life, we hugged  each other and I left.  In a note sent to me a few days later, she said just to know others were not condemning her, but supporting her made all the difference.  I saw her in church the next Lord 's Day with an entirely different expression on her face.  Many examples can be given, but this just happened a few days before I sent this article in to “alife”.  In a side note, I gave her this article and she made copies and distributed it to all there on the floor.  Even the doctors said it was nice to see Christians recognizing that medications do not limit our faith, but in some cases allow us to appreciate what we have in Christ.        

 If this disease would ever strike us, I am sure we would want someone who is understanding and supportive.   We are to “sorrow with those who are sorrowing”.

     I leave you with this poem from D. Warren who suffers with depression.
“I wonder if you would understand
if I told you, I was hiding
within myself
private
and safe.
I wonder if you would understand
That my silence is not towards you
But the bars that surround me
Leaving me mute
Without words
Locked in
Without a key.
I wonder if you could understand
The darkness, blacker than night
Blacker than death
That I contain inside myself
Mutely
Privately,
I wonder”

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