This is the third in a nine part series entitled “Overcoming Depression-Anxiety: A Suffering Paradigm.” For the various counseling options available from this material visit www.summitrdu.com/counseling.
The complementing studies are also available in a video and podcast formats at the links below:
- “Overcoming Depression-Anxiety: A Responsibility Paradigm”// video and podcast
- “Overcoming Depression-Anxiety: A Suffering Paradigm” // video and podcast
- “Towards a Christian Perspective of Mental Illness” // video and podcast
“Why Does Depression-Anxiety Hurt So Bad?”
UNDERSTAND the impact of my suffering.
“I used to fear my facing the reality of my depression-anxiety and would not acknowledge it, so I forced myself to live as if my emotions never happened or didn’t matter [describe]. I can see how my emotions have affected me [describe]. It was wrong to interpret the impact of depression-anxiety as my failing or weakness. God is more gracious than that and I must agree with Him. The impact is starting to make sense and help me see life differently [describe].”
Memorize: Proverbs 18:14 (ESV), “A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” As you memorize this passage reflect upon these key points:
- “Man’s spirit” – It is our soul that must endure our physical illnesses. There is the ability to point at what hurts.
- “Endure sickness” – When our pain has a clear cause and location our ability to endure suffering is stronger.
- “But” – A contrast is being made between our responses to physical illnesses as opposed to emotional pain.
- “Crushed spirit” – A crushed spirit – losing a sense of hope – is a more intense experience than being sick.
- “Who can bear?” – When we lose hope, we have lost what motivates us to continue struggling for growth.
Teaching Notes
“Your loss of spiritual feelings is not the cause of your depression, but rather the depression has caused a general loss of feeling in all parts of your life, your spiritual life included (p. 81).” David Murray in Christians Get Depressed Too
“A child interprets the lack of interest in their lives from a depressed parent as evidence of a lack of support, care, and love. The inability to name what they are feeling and why they are feeling as they do complicates an already complex situation (p. 25).” Robert Albers, William Meller, and Steven Thurber in Ministry with Persons with Mental Illness and Their Families
“As the brain is the most complex organ in our body, it is liable to be the most affected of all our organs by the Fall and the divine curse on our bodies (p. 64).” David Murray in Christians Get Depressed Too
“When the church is silent to a person in crisis, it can sound remarkably like silence from God (p. 100).” Amy Simpson in Troubled Minds
“The result is that the person who is more given to depression than another person before conversion will still have to fight that after conversion (p. 109).” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in Spiritual Depression
“An additional benefit of having some knowledge about depression is that it will prevent the dangerous and damaging misunderstanding that often leads people, especially Christians, to view medication as a rejection of God and his grace rather than a provision of God and his grace (p. 6).” David Murray in Christians Get Depressed Too
“Christians don’t understand how physical, psychological, and spiritual realms interrelate because Satan muddies the boundaries. Many of our troubles are caused because we think a problem is spiritual when it is physical we think a problem is physical when it is emotional or spiritual (p. 209-208).” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in The Christian Warfare
“Don’t assume that you understand what someone means by ‘depression.’ Don’t fill in the meaning from your own experience, which may or may not be similar. Instead, listen. Allow the depressed person to fill the word depression with the meaning it has for him or her (p. 117).” Ed Welch in Blame It on the Brain?
Other podcasts on emotions are available at:
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