When Depression Wins
I just received news about two hours ago that the famous actor Robin Williams has died in what looks to be a suicide. This has not been confirmed. Williams has been suffering from severe depression of late according to reports. I am not able to write about this tomorrow because of a project, but as a two-time survivor of severe depression, I would like to write a short essay on this before I turn in.
I would not wish severe depression on anyone, not even the most brutal of terrorists like the ones wreaking havoc in Iraq right now—that should put it in perspective for you. Serious depression is one of those experiences that you really have to experience to understand. The tragic news about Williams should turn our attention to those who may come our way. Can we help them? We most certainly can. Please, don’t just talk about this problem and move on. And, I don’t care how great you think the guy was—why does that matter now? While eulogies abound to show people how caring we are, conspicuously absent are questions about the problem itself.
And Williams forgot something: he wasn’t just fighting for himself—his loss does not give hope to others in his shoes.
There is a lot for Christians to learn about this problem, but unfortunately, the present-day church believes sanctification is pretty much the same thing as justification and depression is definitely a sanctification issue. No, preaching the gospel to yourself will not end the depression. No, prayer alone will not end depression; God cares, but you have to participate in the cure.
I wish I could refer people someplace, but I really can’t. In the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, the biblical counseling movement was having great success in helping people with severe depression, but the fundamentals that drove that counseling have been discredited as “not vertical enough.” As far as finding a counselor, sorry to say, you are on your own, but I can share with you what I have learned about this very serious problem.
1. If you have lost interest in everything that gives you joy, feel like you are losing your mind, and are harassed and tormented by horrible thoughts, seek medical help as soon as possible. Depression can be caused by several different medical conditions and bad reactions to certain medications.
2. Be open to encouragement and help from non-Christians. Non-believers and Christians both played an important role in my recovery.
3. Though depression can be a medical problem, in most cases depression becomes a medical problem because of a person’s outlook on life. Specifically, wrongheaded thinking. I have no doubt at all, that depression is caused from chemical imbalance, but the question is, “Can one’s thinking and outlook on life cause those imbalances?” I think the answer is, “yes.”
4. If you struggle with anxiety problems, get the problem under control—anxiety can lead to severe depression.
5. Deal with guilt and relationship problems with others.
6. You are probably going to need medications to get you through the toughest part of your depression while you work on personal issues. Some doctors will say that you will need these medications for the rest of your life, but I know of many situations where this is not the case at all, including my own.
7. Put yourself under the care of a medical doctor and a good counselor. Do not isolate yourself, even if you feel like doing so. It will be necessary to do certain things whether you feel like it or not. Seek out friends that understand your problem.
8. Remember that thoughts invoke feelings and feelings invoke thoughts. Don’t think thoughts that make you feel bad for no good reason. When feelings invoke thoughts, talk back to them. Have a conversation with your thoughts. For me, when oppressed by horrible thoughts, I prayed a lot. Yes, find promises in the Bible and cling to them—by all means. Those horrible thoughts and bad feelings sure do make a strong case that you are helpless against them, but I do not think that is the case. Fight to think other thoughts by getting your mind on something else. Do not leave the thoughts unchallenged. One must ask when he considers what these loud, strong feelings are saying…
“are they telling the truth?”
9. Feelings are VERY important to life, but during a time of severe depression, feelings are your worst enemy. You must temporarily make feelings a lower priority during this time. Whether you feel like it or not, be other-person focused. Whether you feel like it or not, accomplish things. With the help of medications, you can stay productive, and this is important. Right feelings follow right doing, and especially right thinking.
10. This post may help: http://wp.me/pmd7S-Eu
We have much to learn about depression. Suicide is tragic for many reasons, but if people who feel like they are at the end of their rope would just wait one more day, in many cases a new day brings a totally different perspective. I am going to leave you with something very simple if you are a depressed person reading this. In the midst of my struggle, a man who had been through depression himself smiled at me and said, “You are going to be alright.” Oddly, if someone ambushed me with the question, “Right now, name the one thing that was most important in your recovery,” without even thinking about it, I would have to point to that one instance. I would add that life is worth fighting for. I would add that you need to fight because your family wants you to; fight to love them more than you hate your suffering. Win the fight for them. My friend, our great God assures us that trials are only for a time. Death will come soon enough…fight for the joy that will return. When depression wins, hope loses, and the world needs nothing more than hope. And…
“you are going to be alright.”
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Paul, I would also recommend they look into EMDR. It has worked for many people suffering from anxiety, PSTD, etc.
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Lydia,
Bio-feedback was suggested to me and I never followed up on it. Each person should research all of their options. Here is where it would be ill advised to reject all things worldly: our bodies can and do become habituated to responses invoked by thinking. Even when we change our thinking and outlook on life, the body can continue to act in certain ways. The world has developed ways of dealing with this and is not devoid of good commonsense solutions. Hyperventilation immediately comes to mind here, that’s a big one. Once you deal with the life issues, that’s great, but the body has been habituated to deal with circumstances in a certain way, leading the person to think the problem has not been dealt with properly. Medical doctors understand the ins and outs of the physical response, and in the case of hyperventilation can teach you breathing techniques etc. Robin Williams had the best “expert” help available and didn’t make it. You can help such people by going on the journey of recovery with them. You can be their advocate in researching and encouragement. We are in the information age.
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I would like to echo Paul’s thoughts in this article. He gives some great advice. If you are suffering from depression take action on any of his suggestions. In time it will yield great benefits.
The key to recovering from depression is directly tied to achievement. Of course when suffering from depression, any action seems like it takes the strength of superman to accomplish. But the key thing that has been robbed from you is a satisfaction from achievement. So start small–as small as it takes just to get moving—and find something to achieve. Clean the sink. Or clean the corner of the sink. Get the mail, or maybe just walk to the mailbox and back. And once you achieve one thing, immediately find something else to achieve. In time you will find that you have stacked three, four and five things on top of each other. This will be a good feeling. Let yourself enjoy it.
And this leads to my next comment. Letting yourself enjoy . . . anything. There are many causes for depression, and there is no way to summarize all of them. But there is one cause that I am sure about. Calvinism is among the most destructive bodies of thought every perpetrated on human existence. If you are attending a Neo Calvinist Church and are suffering from depression . . . run. Run as fast as you can out the door. Do not look back. Do not justify your leaving. Do not explain yourself. (You are in no condition to defend yourself so don’t try . . . yet.)
Make no mistake, the correct emotional outcome of Lutheran/Calvin reformed doctrine is depression. Actually it is worse than that.
For those of you who have never paid attention to Luther’s Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, I want you to notice that the sole function of the law is to drive man to despair. Despair is a synonym for depression. This is important so I am going to say it again. Luther’s doctrine is specifically designed to bring you to a point of perpetual depression. It is designed to drive you to the conclusion that you can never, ever, ever take satisfaction in your life. It is designed to kill you from the inside out. And that is exactly what it is doing now.
You CANNOT recover from depression by continuing to subject yourself to Lutheran/Calvinist doctrine. This is a philosophical and emotional impossibility. And do not be sucked into the lie that your depression is really a failure to “truly” grasp the grace that God has bestowed. This is little more than a deceit perpetuated by doctrinal predators. You are living exactly what the doctrine is designed to create. THEY are liars.
If you are suffering from depression it does no good for me to unravel the details of their deceit because I suspect you are struggling just to read this whole comment. But know this, the men you have “submitted” your life to, the men that you have gone to for “council,” the same men who hammer away at your great sinfulness, and depravity and elevate pain and suffering to virtues are vampires sucking your soul from your body. If you stay under their doctrinal instruction, I promise you, that they will usher you into the grave. And at the eulogy they will take yet one more opportunity to hammer the living with torment and despair.
Trust me, RUN. And as you seek to achieve . . . even the smallest things . . . soon you will find that you once again take satisfaction in living. You will find that you can enjoy your life.
And as Paul said: You will be all right.
Peace
PS: I discuss the process of recovering in the last chapter of my book Blight in the Vineyard. Buy the book. Skip to the last chapter and work through my recommendations.
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Viz, quotations from the foundational document of Reformed thought: The Heidelberg Disputation to the Augustinian Order by Martin Luther; 1518, about 6 months after he penned the 95 Thesis.
Theses 3: The thesis is proven in the following way: If the works of righteous men are sins, as Thesis 7 of this disputation states, this is much more the case concerning the works of those who are not righteous.
These 4: [Keep in mind he is talking about Christians here] This is understood to mean that the Lord humbles and frightens us by means of the law and the sight of our sins so that we seem in the eyes of men, as in our own, as nothing, foolish, and wicked, for we are in truth that. Insofar as we acknowledge and confess this, there is »no form or beauty« in us, but our life is hidden in God (i.e. in the bare confidence in his mercy), finding in ourselves nothing but sin, foolishness, death, and hell,…that is, he humbles us thoroughly, making us despair, so that he may exalt us in his mercy, giving us hope…Such a man therefore is displeased with all his works; he sees no beauty, but only his depravity.
Theses 6: however, some people say that the righteous man indeed sins, but not when he does good. They may be refuted in the following manner: If that is what this verse wants to say, why waste so many words? Or does the Holy Spirit like to indulge in loquacious and foolish babble?
Theses 7: But this is completely wrong, namely to please oneself, to enjoy oneself in one’s works, and to adore oneself as an idol. He who is self-confident and without fear of God, however, acts entirely in this manner. For if he had fear he would not be self-confident, and for this reason he would not be pleased with himself, but he would be pleased with God.
Theses 10: For the grammarians call a mortal work one which kills,…Second, the will must do something with respect to such a dead work, namely, either love or hate it. The will cannot hate a dead work since the will is evil. Consequently the will loves a dead work, and therefore it loves something dead. In that act itself it thus induces an evil work of the will against God whom it should love and honor in this and in every deed.
Theses 11: Arrogance cannot be avoided or true hope be present unless the judgment of condemnation is feared in every work…Since there is no person who has this pure hope, as we said above, and since we still place some confidence in the creature, it is clear that we must, because of impurity in all things, fear the judgment of God. Thus arrogance must be avoided, not only in the work, but in the inclination also, that is, it must displease us still to have confidence in the creature.
Theses 16: Now you ask: What then shall we do? Shall we go our way with indifference because we can do nothing but sin? I would reply: By no means. But, having heard this, fall down and pray for grace and place your hope in Christ in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection. For this reason we are so instructed-for this reason the law makes us aware of sin so that, having recognized our sin, we may seek and receive grace.
Theses 17: [Again, keep in mind that Luther is talking about Christians] t is apparent that not despair, but rather hope, is preached when we are told that we are sinners. Such preaching concerning sin is a preparation for grace, or it is rather the recognition of sin and faith in such preaching. Yearning for grace wells up when recognition of sin has arisen. A sick person seeks the physician when he recognizes the seriousness of his illness. Therefore one does not give cause for despair or death by telling a sick person about the danger of his illness, but, in effect, one urges him to seek a medical cure. To say that we are nothing and constantly sin when we do the best we can does not mean that we cause people to despair (unless we are fools); rather, we make them concerned about the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These 18: [Again, Luther is referring to Christian living] The law wills that man despair of his own ability, for it »leads him into hell« and »makes him a poor man« and shows him that he is a sinner in all his works, as the Apostle does in Rom. 2 and 3:9, where he says, »I have already charged that all men are under the power of sin.« However, he who acts simply in accordance with his ability and believes that he is thereby doing something good does not seem worthless to himself, nor does he despair of his own strength. Indeed, he is so presumptuous that he strives for grace in reliance on his own strength.
Theses 20: [Reality is interpreted through suffering] He deserves to be called a theologian, however, who comprehends the visible and manifest things of God seen through suffering and the cross…[All material reality is evil] The manifest and visible things of God are placed in opposition to the invisible, namely, his human nature, weakness, foolishness…Now it is not sufficient for anyone, and it does him no good to recognize God in his glory and majesty, unless he recognizes him in the humility and shame of the cross.
Theses 21: This is clear: He who does not know Christ does not know God hidden in suffering. Therefore he prefers ,works to suffering, glory to the cross, strength to weakness, wisdom to folly, and, in general, good to evil. These are the people whom the apostle calls »enemies of the cross of Christ…God can be found only in suffering and the cross, as has already been said Therefore the friends of the cross say that the cross is good and works are evil, for through the cross works are dethroned and the »old Adam«, who is especially edified by works, is crucified. It is impossible for a person not to be puffed up by his »good works« unless he has first been deflated and destroyed by suffering and evil until he knows that he is worthless and that his works are not his but God’s.
Theses 22: [It is evil to believe God can be understood by anything that is material] That wisdom which sees the invisible things of God in works as perceived by man is completely puffed up, blinded, and hardened…This has already been said. Because men do not know the cross and hate it, they necessarily love the opposite, namely, wisdom, glory, power, and so on. Therefore they become increasingly blinded and hardened by such love, for desire cannot be satisfied by the acquisition of those things which it desires. Just as the love of money grows in proportion to the increase of the money itself, so the dropsy of the soul becomes thirstier the more it drinks,…Thus also the desire for knowledge is not satisfied by the acquisition of wisdom but is stimulated that much more. Likewise the desire for glory is not satisfied by the acquisition of glory, nor is the desire to rule satisfied by power and authority, nor is the desire for praise satisfied by praise, and so on,
Theses 24: He, however, who has emptied himself (cf. Phil. 2:7) through suffering no longer does works but knows that God works and does all things in him. For this reason, whether God does works or not, it is all the same to him. He neither boasts if he does good works, nor is he disturbed if God does not do good works through him. He knows that it is sufficient if he suffers and is brought low by the cross in order to be annihilated all the more. It is this that Christ says in John 3:7, »You must be born anew.« To be born anew, one must consequently first die and then be raised up with the Son of Man. To die, I say, means to feel death at hand.
These 25: Therefore man knows that works which he does by such faith are not his but God’s. For this reason he does not seek to become justified or glorified through them, but seeks God. His justification by faith in Christ is sufficient to him. Christ is his wisdom, righteousness, etc., as 1 Cor 1:30 has it, that he himself may be Christ’s vessel and instrument (operatio seu instrumentum).
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John I am going to read your book – it has been on my list.
I know about depression also, because of course I have had it and different kinds of depression. I went through in my twenties a spiritual depression. It is vitally important to know your body and how it copes. Depression can be spiritual, emotional and/or physical. Also for women it can be related to hormonal changes. I have fibromyalgia and cannot take a lot of stresses or I will start to feel depressed and anxious. Exercise and focusing on positive things has helped. Over the years I have been able to differentiate what kind of depression I am experiencing.
John when you said run from a Calvinist church if you are depressed I would say FLY!!! American church today is generally a poison for those who are depressed because of the guilt and shame that permeates through its doors. “Good behavior”, such as, going to church, tithing, doing Sunday School, doing the programs, following orders instead of focusing on your own unique issues of sin between you and God is a recipe for disaster. You are just piling on more of what someone else THINKS you should do instead of getting real with yourself. My growth came when I cut out the noise of others and was completely alone with Jesus. I could hear the voice of the Holy Spirit a lot more clearly and get into gear of changing my own problems.
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Trust4himonlly….
“John when you said run from a Calvinist church if you are depressed I would say FLY!!!”
Yes! Yes! and Yes! As fast as humanly possible. You cannot drink theological poison and have a hope of living.
“I could hear the voice of the Holy Spirit a lot more clearly and get into gear of changing my own problems.” And this is exactly right… you were able to solve your OWN problems and that is by another name… achievement. Good for you. What a joy to be alive.
And whenever you get to Blight in the Vineyard…I would love to hear what you think.
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Yes Paul… thank you.
For those of you who doubted me the above IS the formal presentation of Luther’s proper distinction between law and gospel in all its vile destruction glory.
And this sums up my point: “To be born anew, one must consequently first die and then be raised up with the Son of Man. To die, I say, means to feel death at hand.”
I told you its function was to kill you from the inside out. Your depression IS the logical and emotionally correct response to this doctrine. (Or in CJ Mahaney speak: the only appropriate response in light of eternity is to be visibly moved. i.e. cry great big alligator tears at your endless and terrible depravity inspired by the soul crushing fear that God would justly strike you down and cast you into eternal torment.)
This theological poison is designed to kill and that is exactly what it is doing to you.
Take Trust4himonly’s advice and fly from it as fast as you possibly can.
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Meanwhile, New Calvinist Joe Carter defends ISIS against a false accusation. Why? Their kinship of death.
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uh… what? you gotta show me what you are talking about… I’ve already taken Joe to task … so maybe this is another occasion
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PPT readers keep me apprised of this stuff, and I appreciate it. I have to get the new Admin. posting this stuff in like a daily stack of stuff or something.
http://thegospelcoalition.org//article/factchecker-is-isis-beheading-children-in-iraq
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Awesome comment above, John. That could be a blog post all on its own!
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Excellent post, Paul. Grand slam.
And the comments are equally as good. Just excellent.
This is what’s missing in the institutional church.
t4ho, I highly recommend Blight in the Vineyard.
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Tullian’s latest tweet: “The answer to our pain isn’t found in a syllogism but a Savior—-a suffering Savior.”
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And my answer: “No Tullian, Luther was wrong, reality is not interpreted through suffering and sin.”
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OK… this got me riled up… I decided to write a post. Here it is.
http://spiritualtyranny.com/tullian-tchividjian-syllogysms-and-suffering/
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pondering,
Your comment is music to my ears! I am grinning from ear to ear! Love yourself, enjoy. You are free. That’s a beautiful thing! 🙂
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We are wired to love ourselves. What would the world be like if we hated ourselves? In fact, “no man yet ever hated himself.” Yet, putting others first gives us a sense of accomplishment and raises our self worth.
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“You CANNOT recover from depression by continuing to subject yourself to Lutheran/Calvinist doctrine. This is a philosophical and emotional impossibility.”
Thanks for your bravery in speaking the truth. Calvinism kills, steals and destroys. This fact is ignored and glossed over far too often.
“You cannot drink theological poison and have a hope of living.”
Love the way you worded this. Sums it up…
I am so inspired and strengthened by this thread. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
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