Mental Illness and Depression (vi)
Tuesday, 28 November, 2006
Symptoms:
So how do you know if you've got depression? Symptoms include:
- An apathetic or negative mood;
- Low motivation;
- Lack of pleasure or interest in anything (this includes sex);
- Low self-esteem/self worth;
- Withdrawal;
- Changes in diet (you're eating more/eating less—maybe relying on alcohol and sedatives);
- More sleep/less sleep/bad sleep;
- Low energy levels (which may be caused by poor sleep);
- Poor concentration (which may also be a result of poor sleep);
- Lessened ability to control emotions, e.g. pessimism, anger, irritability (and emotions may vary throughout the day);
- Reduced tolerance to pain;
- Anxiety;
- Abnormal guilt feelings (you may feel guilty about all of the above).
You may be experiencing some of those symptoms now. But it may not necessarily be clinical depression. Experts say that that's only the case when the mood state is severe, it's gone on for more than two weeks, and it's starting to interfere with the ability to function at home or at work.
So how does depression affect Christians in particular? Have a look at that list of symptoms and think about what spiritual effect they might have. I'll go through my list, but if you think of ones I haven't thought of, feel free to contribute.
Symptom |
Spiritual effect |
An apathetic or negative mood |
Little enthusiasm or joy in the Christian life and Christian activities. |
Low motivation |
No motivation to read the Bible, pray, attend church, attend Bible study or engage in any other Christian activities. |
Lack of pleasure or interest in anything |
Christian activities are no longer fun. Feeling out of place with other Christians because they are so enthusiastic about God/the Bible/evangelism/mission and you're not. |
Low self-esteem/self worth |
Feeling like other people don't like you and don't want to be your friends. Feeling like God hates you. Feeling like Christ died for everyone in the whole world except for you because you're so worthless. |
Withdrawal |
Feeling isolated from other Christians—cannot participate in fellowship. Feeling alone. No one understands. |
Changes in diet |
Fearing judgement from other Christians about how much you're eating—particularly if you're putting on weight. Reluctance to go to church events because they usually involve food. Eating disorders. |
More sleep/less sleep/bad sleep |
Inability to get out of bed to go to things or to do things. Feeling tired all the time—falling asleep in church/Bible study/prayers. Feeling like God hates you because he will not grant you good sleep. Church houseparties can be frustrating because you're trying really hard to sleep so that you can be awake for the following day's program and you can't. |
Low energy levels |
Not feeling like doing anything—let alone reading the Bible, praying, etc. |
Poor concentration |
Inability to read the Bible, pray, listen to sermons in church. Group Bible study is hard Inability to get organised to do anything. |
Lessened ability to control emotions |
Feeling awful—not wanting to go to church or see other Christians in case they berate you for being ungodly. |
Reduced tolerance to pain |
Thinking God is punishing you. People at church getting impatient with you and telling you to stop complaining. |
Anxiety |
Anxiety about all of the above. Anxiety about whether God is pleased with you. Anxiety about whether people will like you and still be your friend when you're like this. |
Abnormal guilt feelings |
Guilt about all of the above. Guilt about the way you're treating people. Guilt about your sinfulness. Guilt because you can't read your Bible/can't pray/can't pay attention in church. Feeling like you're the worst Christian in the world. |
Obviously some of these will affect some people more than others. And some people will be more visibly affected than others. That's one of the problems of depression: because it's a mental illness, not a physical illness, people don't think of you as being ill because you look so normal. So they assume that you're okay and you're perfectly capable of doing things, when in fact you may not be able to.
Blinks:
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Other comments
They are right on the money Karen. It is a devastating business that causes a siralling effect of unhappiness.
I haven;t been truly depressed in that sense for a long time, but at times I feel those emotions. One things that comforts me is the song
“That I would be Good” by Alanis Morissette.
e.g That I would be loved, even when I’m not myself
That I would be good even when I’m overwhelmed.
I remember that Christ has made me righteous, even when I’m so overwhelmed by anxiety that I sin. Or that I AM loved, even though I’m not ‘myself’.
Thanks for your blog. Great observations.