Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness (3 page)

A Dysthymic Disorder is a variant of depression that lasts lon-ger—at least two years—but is less intense. Instead of the longer symptom list of a Major Depressive Episode, the requirements for dysthymia omit some of the more severe criteria.

Presence, while depressed, of two (or more) of the following:

(1) poor appetite or overeating

(2) insomnia or hypersomnia

(3) low energy or fatigue

(4) low self-esteem

(5) poor concentration or difficulty making decisions

(6) feelings of hopelessness
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Add to this list items such as feeling anxious, guilty, angry and unloved, and you can see how depression cuts such a broad swath that includes so many.

Over the last decade, an increasingly popular label for depression has been Bipolar Disorder. When those who are depressed are labeled Bipolar, it means that they probably experienced a period during which their mood was unusually elevated, or it means that depression has cycles in which it seems to come and go as it pleases.

Between the lines of these descriptions are all kinds of theories as to what causes them. As you move toward the less severe end of the continuum, many assume that the causes are relationship problems, difficult circumstances, or negative thinking. As you move toward the more severe end, the popular theory is that the cause is a chemical imbalance.

There is no reason to cast your vote for these causes yet. At this point, it is too early to make those judgments. Remain among the undecided. No one can confidently diagnose a chemical imbalance because there is no way to really know. Even if there were a test for it (which there isn’t), the test couldn’t tell you if the imbalance caused the depression or resulted from it.

The problem with immediately opting for a medical explanation is that, once the decision is made, every other perspective seems superficial or irrelevant. Why, for example, would you bother considering other contributors when a pill might provide relief? If depressed persons assume that their problem is fundamentally medical, asking them to look at their relationships or their basic beliefs about God will seem as useful as prescribing physical exercise for baldness. Exercise is always helpful, but it won’t grow hair.

One reason the previous chapter urges you to describe your feelings is that, as you do, you will begin to notice the fears, failures, losses, frustrations, and broken relationships that might be attached to your feelings. When you see this patchwork of contributions, you can see that limiting yourself to a physical explanation might oversimplify your problem and cause you to miss road signs to other answers.

It is only fair to add that you should be undecided about spiritual causes too. By this I mean that you can’t immediately say that there is one core sin that has caused your depression. Some people race toward this explanation; they hope that once they discover that sin, everything will change. Others run from this perspective; they think spiritual explanations are prehistoric and misguided. The truth is in the middle of these two poles. Sin can certainly be a cause of depression, but you must be careful about connecting the dots between the two. If you are being honest, you will always find sin in your life. Everyone does. That doesn’t mean that sin caused your depression.

No sin is necessarily connected with sorrow of heart, for Jesus Christ our Lord once said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” There was no sin in Him, and consequently none in His deep depression.
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The simple approach is to deal with your sin as it becomes apparent to you. Depression, of course, doesn’t exempt us from addressing these critical matters. Just don’t assume that your depression will vanish upon confession and knowing God’s forgiveness.

So depression does not necessarily have a spiritual cause if, by spiritual, we mean that it is caused by our own sin. But there is a broader meaning to the word
spiritual,
and, in this sense, your
depression is always and profoundly spiritual. Spiritual
can refer to the very center of our being where our basic allegiances are worked out. Who is God? Do we trust him? Why is he allowing this to happen to me? How can I trust him when he seems so remote and unresponsive? These are spiritual questions that, in many ways, identify us as human beings.

Whenever there is suffering, and depression is most surely suffering—the next chapter will address this—there are always questions that we must consider about God and our relationship to him. We can avoid these questions when everything is going well, but hardships always uncover these submerged realities. We can’t avoid questions about God when depression comes knocking on our door.

At this point, here is what you know: Life is lifeless. Misery tinges everything. Your first reaction is, “How can I get rid of this as quickly as possible?” And there is merit to decreasing pain quickly, if it’s possible. But depression should also be approached carefully. It might be pointing to important matters of the heart that are crying out for attention. Ignore them and they will just call back later. There are times when depression is saying something and we must listen.

There will be some discussion about medication and other treatments in a later chapter. The concern at this point is not whether or not you are taking medication, but that medication does not become your only plan of attack. Even if medication relieves some of the burden of depression, it may be functioning like aspirin. That is, it takes away some of the symptoms but the root problems persist.

What else, other than chemical imbalances, might be contributing to your experience of depression?

With all the debate about the causes of depression, it is easy to miss the obvious: depression is painful. It is a form of suffering. At first, this statement seems to contribute nothing new. It is just restating what you already know. But if you are familiar with Scripture, you should sense a ray of light. Without Scripture’s insights, suffering is random and senseless. When it comes, run fast! But Scripture is about suffering. It has given comfort to millions. It has spawned hundreds of wonderful books that highlight God’s gentle care and Scripture’s probing insights. You can be assured of this: God really does speak in our suffering, and we have good reason to believe that the words he says are good and powerful enough to lighten our pain.

If you search Scripture by looking up the word
depression
in a concordance, you would find only a short list of verses. (Depending on the translation, you might not find any list at all.) If you expand your investigation to include men and women whose struggles paralleled modern-day depression, you would find more material. Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah are examples that immediately come to mind. But if your search includes the wider category of pain, suffering, hardship, trials, tribulations, despair, burdens, dread, hopelessness, and a
host of other related words and themes, you will find that almost every page of Scripture offers some direction, insight, and encouragement.

For example, have you ever applied this teaching to depression?

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2–4)

These are not the easiest of God’s words to hear, and it would take some explanation to link them to your situation. But the absence of the word “depression” shouldn’t keep you from finding encouragement and purpose in this passage. James intentionally enlarges the scope of suffering when he writes, “trials of
many kinds
.” By doing this, he invites those who experience depression to learn that, whatever the cause, depression will test our faith and serve as a catalyst for growth rather than a reason for despair. Yes, depression is spiritual in the same way that all suffering brings us face-to-face with critical spiritual realities.

This passage is just one randomly selected communication from God. Already you can see that there is purpose in suffering, and that, by itself, can have a profound impact on depression. “That is all I want in life: for this pain to seem purposeful.”
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When depression is incorporated into the larger problem of human suffering, you will find that you already know much more about depression than you realize.

Turn Scripture’s gaze, for example, to the question of what causes depression (suffering, trials). Its answers shun the simplistic and point to at least five possible causes.

Other people
are one cause of hardship-depression. Look through the Psalms, and you will find that about half of them are cries to the Lord because of oppression by others. People betray and abuse; they make commitments and break them; they wound, scatter, and destroy because they care about their own desires and not the interests of others. Beneath some depression you are likely to find a person who is reeling from the sins of other people.

We,
too, are a cause of suffering. Our rage causes divorce and subsequent aloneness. Our stealing causes imprisonment. Our addictions destroy our relationships and our bodies. Don’t be surprised if you find things within yourself—fears, anger and selfish desires—lurking behind some depression. Anger, especially, is a notorious cause.

There are more subtle ways we can contribute to depression too. For example, our misguided beliefs might lead us to think that we are beyond God’s love or forgiveness. We could be carrying fears of death and judgment or fears of the future because we have believed myths about both God and ourselves. These mistaken beliefs can actually cause depression. At the very least they can get pulled into depression’s gravitational field and end up as partners with depression that can intensify the experience.

Our bodies
are another obvious cause of suffering. Since sin entered the world, our bodies gradually weaken and waste away. Diseases, deterioration from old age, post-partum struggles, side effects of medications, and possible chemical imbalances are just a few of the physical causes relevant to depression.

Bodies that waste away can be a cause of depression for those who experience it; they can also be a contribution to depression for the ones who love those who are sick or deceased. The famous English preacher, Charles Spurgeon, struggled with depression throughout his life. What seems to have ignited it was a specific tragedy. He was preaching to a huge congregation—over twelve thousand crammed themselves into his church and over ten thousand waited outside. Soon after the meeting began, someone yelled, “Fire.” In
the chaos that ensued, the frantic crowd caused the death of seven people. Spurgeon was inconsolable.

These three causes—others, ourselves, and physical bodies that waste away and die—are obvious to the naked eye. But two other causes are harder to see without Scripture’s lens and light.

Satan
is a fourth cause of human suffering. The book of Job is one of the few places in Scripture where his work is obviously on display. Satan lies to us, he can afflict us physically, and he generally seeks to persuade us that allegiance to the true God is not in our best interests. Outside of religious circles, it isn’t popular to talk about Satan, but that, in itself, is no reason to dismiss him. Satan doesn’t seek name recognition; he prefers
not
to call attention to himself. Instead, he seeks to deflect attention away from God.

It is very difficult to discern Satan’s contributions to depression. More recognizable, however, is how Satan might seek to influence us
after
we are depressed. Any prolonged suffering can become an occasion to question the goodness of God. As soon as that question comes, Satan sits down next to us and tries to confirm our suspicions.

Finally,
God
himself is a cause of suffering. “God sometimes puts his children to bed in the dark,” is the way an old preacher put it. We say that God “allows” suffering, and sometimes Scripture uses that language. But biblical authors were absolutely persuaded that God was the one, true, sovereign, Creator God. They could not imagine a world in which God was not enthroned. Nothing happens apart from his sovereign oversight, including our suffering.

The L
ORD
brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The L
ORD
sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. (1 Sam. 2:6–7)

I [the L
ORD
] form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the L
ORD
, do all these things. (Isa. 45:7)

God is over all things, and nothing happens apart from his knowledge and will. By the time suffering or depression comes to our doorstep, God did it. To believe anything else is to opt for a universe that is random and out of control, without a guiding hand bringing all things to a purposeful and awe-inspiring conclusion.

This, of course, raises other questions about God’s goodness, and those questions are on our agenda. For now, though, just orient yourself to seeing depression through the lens of suffering; remember that suffering can come from a number of different causes; and keep in mind that depression is always spiritual, in that it always directs our attention to the most important matters of human life. There is a lot of mileage available in these principles. If these are clear, you won’t feel the need to immediately and perhaps inaccurately identify more specific answers.