What wrong idea about depression would you most like to set straight?

[LovebirdsFlying]

I wish people would understand that depression is not the same thing as being sad or having a negative attitude. Pep talks don't easily cheer us up, and we already know about the things we can be thankful for.

 

[Press On]

I wish people would understand that depression is not the same thing as being sad or having a negative attitude. Pep talks don't easily cheer us up, and we already know about the things we can be thankful for.

As a whole, we are not possessed/oppressed by demons, nor do we have a mountain of unconfessed/unrepentant sin in our lives, though these things can be a possibility. In fact, many people with depression are more keenly aware of their thoughts, words and motives and wish to be right before God.

Unfortunately, it is a stigma in the Christian community.

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

I hear that sometimes. "Well, I just don't see how a Christian can be depressed. The joy of the Lord is my strength." Or a perfectly cornball (in my opinion) "I'm too blessed to be depressed!" Again it goes to depression and sadness not being the same thing.

 

[GeorgeJ]

What wrong idea about depression would you most like to set straight?

....that depression (and most other mental health problems) are caused by "demon possession". Ticks me off every time I see or hear some ignorant jerk say that.

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

^^Me too.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

That depression is not related to pellagra.
I don't know how often, only that it helps to find out.

 

[chaoticfirefly]

That we're not choosing this. That I need my medications to function. I have done and said terrible things while manic, and I am not going off pills and going back to that.

 

[chaoticfirefly]

Also, just because someone loves us doesn't mean we're cured or fixed. We're not in some corny Lifetime movie.

 

[Jeshu]

That our depressed thoughts are not to be taken seriously because they are negative/depressive. i hate it when people treat me like that.

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

That our depressed thoughts are not to be taken seriously because they are negative/depressive. i hate it when people treat me like that.

Oh, I'd like to "like" that one several dozen times!

 

[Celticroots]

All of the above. Another one I’ve heard is.
“Just pray and read your Bible more, or go to church.”

I can’t read the Bible because depression can make it hard to concentrate. Trying to pray Id probably break down in tears. And a worship service? Just no. Being in a room with blaring music surrounded by strangers does not and will not help my depression.

Another. “You don’t have enough faith.” I don’t need someone who is too ignorant to know depression is an illness to lecture me about faith, when they don’t have the correct definition of it and think it means that bad things, getting sick won’t happen to you.

 

[Shadow]

I wish people would understand that depression is not the same thing as being sad or having a negative attitude. Pep talks don't easily cheer us up, and we already know about the things we can be thankful for.

Depression is not a mood, but a state of mind. Even when you are happy you are still depressed. The highs are not as high and the lows are very low. Sometimes you can forget that its there if you get caught up in the moment (which is really nice), but it will be back eventually.

 

[Larniavc]

I wish people would understand that depression is not the same thing as being sad or having a negative attitude. Pep talks don't easily cheer us up, and we already know about the things we can be thankful for.

People often forget that it can be fatal.

 

[Far Side Of the Moon]

That it will never get better or its forever....my own life is an example that that's simply not true.

 

[Celticroots]

People often forget that it can be fatal.

Yes it is. I have experience with this as I lost a loved one to suicide.

 

[Weathering Storms]

That depression is a weakness*, that we could just "pull ourselves out of it" if we weren't so lazy.
That I'm lazy because our house is a wreck. Yes, there are days when I literally just sit. I can't even make myself get up and go to the bathroom. It is a weight, a heaviness that won't go away.

Or from my dad, "If you'd get rid of that white-man's religion and accept yourself as a Native American, stop rejecting the spiritual truths of your blood, your culture, and worship the Great Spirit, your depression wouldn't be there."

*By the way, I discovered something interesting this past year. Because we have so much autism and depression in our immediate family, a geneticist did a micro-array test on one of my twins. 14 vials of blood and 8 weeks later, we found out that he was missing a part of his 22nd Chromosome. (Actually, he's missing quite a few bits of it, but they have only mapped out this one section). People who are missing this portion either have severe depression from an early age, autism, or schizophrenia, or a combination of the three. So depression can be a genetic disorder, like Down's Syndrome.

 

[miss-a]

All that's been said so far, and I'll add:

People fail so often to understand that for many of us there is a physical component to depression. It's not always that we need more counseling or we haven't tried hard enough. Sometimes we need medication, and better nutrition, and exercise and to avoid negative people and environments, and none of those things are sin. They are self-care that I suspect God is very happy to see us undertake when we need them. The humans, not so much.

 

[ShadowsChild]

I need to see this thread today. None of my Christian friends understand that this ISN'T a choice for me. That I would love to be happy and joyful instead of thoughts of death constantly wrapped around me. I hate other believer's telling me that if i draw closer to Jesus I will be okay.. seriously, every time I hear it I want to puke.

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

I understand that feeling.

No, we are NOT saying that depression is bigger than God, or that He doesn't have the power to take care of it. We're going through this for some reason we don't understand. He could pluck us up and put us at the top of the mountain, but we gain something by climbing and struggling that we would not have gained otherwise. We trust Him to get us *through* it. But not necessarily *out* of it.

 

[ShadowsChild]

Another I wish people would understand.... that depression isn't just young people. And neither is SH. I am 30 and still struggle with it.... it's not that I never grew up. More that I never found another outlet