Depression is a mood marked by sadness and gloom – sometimes appearing for no apparent reason – which produces unusual disinterest in life and sometimes a deep sense of despair.
The symptoms of depression are not hard to detect:
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of sleep
- Inordinate fatigue
- Overindulgence in food, beverage, or sleep
- Disinterest in life in general
- Hypochondria (always whining or complaining about some real or imagined physical ailment)
- Unkempt appearance
- Occasional loss of sex drive
- Loss of any drive to achieve
- Unexplained crying spells
- Feelings of heaviness and oppression
- Extremely negative self-image
- Anti-social behavior (including withdrawal from people)
- Lack of long-range plan
- Oversensitivity
If these are symptoms, what are some of the causes of this dark spirit of gloom and despair?
Causes of Depression
- Physical Causes: Occasionally a person will experience extreme depression because of a change in his or her physical well-being.
- Women – hormonal imbalance
- Men & women – prolonged illnesses or traumatic injuries
- Work (Job 7:3-5)
- Unresolved Guilt
- Guilt, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. It’s a built-in alarm God has placed within us that goes off when we’ve sinned.
- If unresolved, that’s when depression can follow.
- David experienced this after he sinned against Bathsheba (Psalm 32:3-5a)
- Persistence in sin with no remorse, not contrition, and no repentance will bring a spirit of depression that won’t let us go.
- The Loss of a Loved One
- Normal grief follows the loss of a parent, spouse, child, or close friend (John 11:21).
- Long after the normal period of grieving has passed, waves of depression can come back to constrict the survivor.
- Boredom
- Life becomes a “hum-drum” affair for some.
- Afflicts all classes of society, not just the poor.
- Solomon in Ecclesiastes 6:3
- Try investing your life in others to help the boredom.
- Life becomes a “hum-drum” affair for some.
- Direct attach from the enemy of our souls
- Satan brings attacks of depression upon believers and non-believers alike, through various means (1 Samuel 18:10).
- God allowed an evil and demonic spirit from the devil to enrage Saul.
- Saul’s anger and jealousy led to his deep depression.
- Self-pity
- Moses experienced this while dealing with God about the troublesome nation of Israel (Numbers 11:11 & 15)
- Elijah felt this way when Jezebel threatened to kill him (1 Kings 19:4).
- Satan brings attacks of depression upon believers and non-believers alike, through various means (1 Samuel 18:10).
What is the cure for depression?
- Acknowledge the source of your depression.
- Since Jesus came to give us life to the full (John 10:10), and since every good and perfect gift is from God (James 1:17), it’s obvious who the ultimate source of depression is.
- As the accuser of the brethren, Satan wants you to feel badly, think badly, act badly, and be convinced that there is no way out – that you’re trapped in your depression.
- Claim what you have.
- Remember, you’re a child or God, the apple of His eye, His heir, and the one on whom He has promised to lavish His love.
- “The one who is in you is greater than the one in the world” (1 John 4:4b).
- As the object of God’s care and concern, you can rest assured that your well-being is His highest priority. (1 Peter 5:7)
- Give your depression over to God.
- King David once confessed to the Lord (Psalm 55:4-8).
- Many people with depression think a change of scenery would help their depression to disappear; but all that does is rearrange it.
- It’s better to officially hand your depression over to God (Psalm 55:22a).
- Verbally speak as you offer your situation over to the Lord.
- Say: Lord, I hereby relinquish all my depression to you. I know it doesn’t belong in my life, and you’re not the author of it, so I hand it all over to you and ask that I never receive it back again. Amen.
- Worship and praise God with great intensity.
- Even though this is the last thing a depressed person feels like doing it’s a vital step to take, nonetheless.
- God’s people in the day of Babylonian captivity (Psalm 137:1, 4).
- King David once confessed to the Lord (Psalm 55:4-8).
How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a state of depression?
- Praise and worship lift depression faster than anything else.
- The Bible teaches that praise and worship are like a divine layer, prying the spirit of depression off our back and shoulders (Isaiah 61:3)
- The presence of praise produces the absence of depression.
- Start serving others in ministry.
- Part of the way God lifts your depression is allowing you to serve others.
- Get into the habit of continually giving thanks to God.
- Even though it’s hard, this is the very time we need to thank God (Ephesians 5:20 & 1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Make this Your Prayer:
Lord, I would never have asked for these circumstances, but I thank You for them. Teach me what you want me to learn through them. Amen.
More Biblical Counsel
- Psalm 16
- Psalm 12
- Psalm 42
- Psalm 30:5a
- 2 Chronicles 20:20-28
- 2 Corinthians 4:17
- Isaiah 49:9-11
- Jeremiah 29:13-14
- Nehemiah 8:10
- Psalm 37:4
- Psalm 77
- Psalm 121:3-8
- Isaiah 26:3
- Isaiah 53:4-5
- Proverbs 3:5-6
- Psalm 38:1-4
- Psalm 38:21-22
- Psalm 23
- Psalm 56
