Depression: An Unusual Paradox

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14.

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Teenage depression is an issue which I encounter at work on a regular basis. According to a BBC report in 2004 statistics show that 1 in 8 adolescents now has depression. Being relatively new in my job, I cannot comment about its implied growing trend, but my colleagues - most of whom are old in their tooth, have confirmed an increase of teenagers who are severely affected by it.

Its key symptoms include a persistent sadness, a low or irritable mood with a loss of interest and pleasure. The person might also experience fatigue and low energy. Other associated symptoms include poor sleep, poor concentration or indecisiveness, low self-confidence, suicidal thoughts and feelings of guilt and self-blame.

As I was trawling through the internet the other day to see which charity organisations exist to help adolescents with depression, I came across a site called teenagedepression.org - only to see this sneaky advert:



Churches across the UK, including mine, sing an old hymn entitled, 'Before the Throne of God Above' and in the second stanza we sing the words:

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin...

In his talk on Sunday, one of my elders wondered if for many of us - we do not fully understand the implications of Jesus' death and resurrection. I fill my mind with its Biblical principles through the songs that I sing and through the words that I hear, but what does the gospel look like when it is applied to my work-place? How does the gospel apply in all of our secular work-places?

I am frequently guilty of compartmentalising Christianity to something I-do-on-a-Sunday-morning and the occasional Wednesday evening get-togethers when we as a small-group discuss matters of spirituality. I wear my spiritual hat to serve a specific purpose for the so-and-so-spiritual event, and when that's over, I put my let's-get-back-to-reality hat to head into the next five or six days. With regards to my interest in mental-health, I wonder if I am too quick to subscribe to the idea that depression belongs only within the field of medicine (as if depression is caused by a 'chemical imbalance' - when it simply is not!), without comprehending its spiritual dimension? What has Jesus got to do with depression and other modern-day mental-health issues?

Hello? No sorry. Satan only works on Sundays. If you like, I can put you through to the psychiatrist instead?

Depression, as with many other mental health issues, is rooted in trauma and the received diagnosis is based upon how the person reacts to it. So, the person diagnosed with depression is one who experiences a loss of control, worthlessness, despair, accompanied by feelings of shame and guilt in reaction to the traumatic event in their life.

In a previous post, I mentioned that it takes a miracle for the veneer of pride in a person to be broken. In a society filled with 'image' and 'affluence' as the hallmarks for success, it seems that the God-given miracle, which stops us in our tracks is a head on collision with suffering - with which depression ensues.

The experience of depression breaks all of man's pride.

Thank God for depression? But depression is bad! Isn't it? I for one, having experienced it, would never have thought of it as a good thing. And certainly not something I thanked God for at the time. But it does seem that it is when we experience the lows that who we really are and what this world is really like are exposed. Our instinct of course, is to fight against it but all we can do is simply embrace it, lest we fall into idolatry by looking to other things and even into ourselves for help. To admit responsibility is to embrace that we are worthless, and in need of help. According to the Bible, help comes when we look up and cling for dear life to the great high priest: human-kind's sympathiser - who has paid the price that we cannot pay and who imputes to us all the necessary righteousness that we do not deserve.

It is in the lows that we experience His highs. It seems that the way up, is to embrace the down and it is when we realise we have nothing, that we gain everything in Him...


Father, what can I do but rejoice in my weaknesses? Not that I rejoice in sin, but it is in my weakness, when I suffer in the things that I have done wrong, that I truly see your perfection. Jesus, there is no one else I can turn to. You alone hold the words of eternal life and I know you're there, so please hear my plea. I repent; I turn away from self, and instead I look to you. You are my benefactor. You are my only source of satisfaction. Do whatever you will with me; my life, broken as it is, is now yours. For your glory's sake.



But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (Paul's letter to the church at Philippi)