Depression

WRITTEN BY DREW MATZ

What is Depression?

We have all experienced times in our lives where we feel depressed. It is a natural part of the human experience to endure times of sadness. However, studies have shed light on a condition called clinical depression which exceeds what might be called the normal experience of bouts of sadness in our lives. Those who are experiencing clinical depression may be dealing with the following symptoms:

-Anxiety

-Loss of Appetite

-Excessive Sadness

-Fatigue

-Thoughts of Self-Harm 

-General Loss of Interest

Depression in the clinical sense is thought to be caused by an imbalance in brain chemistry. 

Does the Bible speak of depression?

The scriptures do not speak of depression as a mental illness, but they speak at lengths of the symptoms associated with it. 

Solomon, for example, certainly experienced bouts of depression:

So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after the wind. –Ecclesiastes 2:17

When Paul describes the fallen state of creation, he alludes to the underlying spiritual cause.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. –Romans 8:22-24

Depression, we might say, is itself a symptom of a creation that is under the curse of sin. It is a manifestation of the separation from our creator, as all afflictions are. However, we must remember that depression is something that millions of Christians struggle with and it is not a reflection of one’s spiritual state before God. Having depression is not caused because we have not been holy enough, have not prayed enough, or done enough “good works.” All Christians have struggles and spiritual battles of their own of which depression is only one. 

Is there a solution? 

We might say that the solution can be divided into two aspects: the clinical and the spiritual. There is certainly a relationship between the two, but they must also be distinguished so that we address our depression on both the clinical and spiritual level. On the one hand, depression is a highly treatable condition, and is often treated with medication and therapy, often with very good results. 

On the other hand, we also look to the hope given to us in the Gospel. On the cross, Jesus embodied the same psychological trauma that we often endure. As the prophet Isaiah says:

Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows

Isaiah 53:4

He carried our grief, our shame, and our despair to the cross and left it in the tomb. In his resurrection, we see our own future. Because Jesus was raised in a glorified body, free of the grief and sorrow of this life, we too look forward to our own resurrection in a body like his, incorruptible and free of affliction. Let us fix our eyes to the cross and trust in him, who makes all things new.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4