Each weekday Steve and I discuss issues involved with our current crisis in the Third Space house – we call it the Panic Room. I think this is one of the most important we have looked at – it’s such a vital subject and sometimes misunderstood in Christian circles as well as others. I mentioned it as one of the Four Horsemen of the Covid Apocalypse
I think Steve has some really wise things to say here…enjoy – its only eight minutes!
The Shelter of the Most High – New Year, Old Hope – a Personal Testimony
I’m a long-term sufferer with depression – it’s been some forty five years.
There are a few things that I’d like to comment on having watched the video.
First, Steve said that his wife is fully booked out in her practice just two weeks after no one would turn up. I’m sorry, but what’s her practice about?
Second, David, you said that your wife is a mental health officer and that you have been dealing with people who work in mental health (I’m paraphrasing) for most of your life. If that’s the case, then I think that you should know better than to say ‘that most of us have suffered some kind of depression at one time’. I found, and continue to find, that a really unhelpful thing to hear someone say.
Third, where is the link posted to the article by Steve’s friend?
Fourth, as a Christian, and also a sufferer of depression, I often don’t feel that rest that Jesus talks about in Matthew 11:28. I don’t think that being a Christian is, or should be portrayed as, the answer to the restlessness that depression (and anxiety) sufferers experience.
Note: if you want to reply to me rather than post my comment, that’s fine with me.
Thanks Andrew. In answer to your questions.
1) Psychiatrist.
2) Yes most of us do have some kind of depression at one time. Thats a factually true statement.
3) Sorry I don’t have it.
4) There are many times I too also don’t feel that rest. And I think that Jesus is the answer to that restlessness that many experience. But for some of us that may be harder in this life!
Sorry I can’t reply to you as I don’t have your e-mail…feel free to e-mail if you wish – theweeflea@gmail.com
I’ve not listened to the audio. I simply want to make a couple of observations having struggled with depression for over 35 years .
1. I think there are significant differences between normal depression and clinical depression. By ‘normal’ depression I mean the ‘low’ mood that lies at one end of the scale of a ‘normal’ mood spectrum or range. Clinical depression, as I experience it is not the ‘low’ mood I may have when mentally healthy. When clinically depressed, my whole spectrum or range takes a nose dive. My mood spectrum moves down a few keys or even an octave. It is a tangible mood drop hard to describe. It brings in its wake a raft of mood related symptoms… anxiety feelings, lethargy, sweats, palpitations and other difficult to handle symptoms. By far the worst is the skew it creates in my thinking. Perceptions are distorted. Different personality types no doubt have different thoughts to wrestle with.
Yes, normal mood spectrum depression may give some insight into what clinical depression may mean but in my opinion very little. Until, clinical depression hit me in my late 20’s (out of a clear blue sky) I had no inkling of the tunnel that clinical depression/a mental breakdown/nervous exhaustion created.
I’m afraid I agree with Andrew David that it is unhelpful to compare normal depression with clinical depression… at least for the depressed person. I remember when first ill my GP saying to me something like ‘it’s winter and we all get down a bit in winter’. It was clear to me he didn’t have a clue about my emotional and mental state.
2. I find that the only rock in an emotional and mental quagmire (leaving aside medication) is to wrestle for a position of trust. When anxiety is in full spate I try to remind myself to be anxious about nothing. When I have no energy I say ‘the Lord is my strength’. When my mood threatens to dip further ‘ I rejoice in the Lord’.
I have to do these things with an intensity unnecessary when well. I have to dig deep to trust… and by God’s grace I eventually get a measure of control, however, there is generally an emotional storm that has to run its course. The experience of others may be different.
Within it all God does bless… intensified faith brings a richer sense of the presence of the Lord. Life becomes less precious and heaven and home more attractive… the effects I suppose any deep trial creates in a believers heart.
Every blessing
I have often thought the following quote from William Blake contains an element of truth:
‘Joy and woe are woven fine
A clothing for the soul divine.’
The ‘happy-clappy’ notion of joy, seems to almost dismiss the notion that Christians can be ‘down’ and depressed. But of course light and joy do shine through for the steady believer, who places his trust and hope in the God of real comfort. ‘The joy of the Lord, eg Neh. 8:10 is my strength’, even in those ‘dark’ times of real depression. He seems to speak to me more loudly in the dark, and slowly the clouds of despair do lift!
I think that for D Robertson to allude to the fact that most of us have had some kind of depression – implies degrees of and types of depression. It was an acknowledgement of the pain – and not minimising or denying. Most problems in life are experienced in degrees – depending on our personal make-up and severity of our circumstances. Mental health issues are incredibly complex and individual to each person really.