How would you describe your life? What emotions come to the surface?  For some, life is an adventure: it is peaceful, joyful, fulfilling, and exciting.  For others, life is a disaster: it is painful, sad, unfulfilling, and uninteresting.  What’s the difference between these two perspectives?  For many, including believers, it is a diagnosis of depression.  Depression is a very real, painful, and isolating force.  Anyone can experience it, at any time, and at any age.  It does not discriminate and it can be relentless. 

     Depression can include anxiety, bi-polar disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and many other clinically diagnosed mental illnesses. When you hear the term “mental illness,” what thoughts come to your mind?  How about weird, crazy, lost, rejected, tossed away, homeless, helpless, diseased, beyond repair?  These tags can keep people, especially Christians, from seeking professional help.  We are already labeled enough in life but to be labeled mentally ill - who would want that?  What would the church think? What would my family say?  What would my boss do?  Will I be accepted or will I be rejected once and for all?

     Why is it so hard for the Church and its leaders to talk about depression? Why is it acceptable for people to take a blood pressure medications but if they take depression meds they are ostracized?  We say things like, “Let the joy of the Lord be your strength” or “Put on the garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness.”  While those may be encouraging words, it can bring feelings condemnation.  It’s just not that simple for someone who has been diagnosed with depression. 

     As believers, we must begin to discuss openly and honestly this great battle that many find themselves facing. People are self-medicating, self-mutilating, and self destructing.  The suicide rates among our soldiers, young people, LGBT community and the older generation are outrageous. 

     When we stand by and allow people to believe that the only way to solve their current situation is to end their life, we have failed them and failed as the Body of Christ. Where do broken hearts go if not to the Church?  The Church - the body of Christ - should be a safe haven, a place of love, rest, and acceptance.  It should be a guide to wholeness, healing and restoration.

     There should be no stigma from the Christian community when someone reaches out for help by seeking professional counseling and, under the care of a physician, takes medications to bring them relief from their symptoms. There is no magic pill but there are ways that we can function to live happy, productive, and fulfilling lives.  Some days may be harder than others but with a support system in place we can and will make it!

     Please do not diagnosis yourself! Do not use Google as your medical professional!  There are great therapists out there.  Please start with your medical doctor.  He or she can help you find all that you need to assist you in this recovery.  Take it one day at a time.  Find a church that is loving, accepting and willing to support you in your journey.  Many large ministries also have their own counseling centers.

     There is a difference between sadness and depression. Sadness can last several months; it can come with a loss, divorce, job layoff or any tragic event.  The grief experienced from a loss is a journey - everyone’s journey is different.  Depression, on the other hand, is marked by long term sadness, feelings of hopelessness and unworthiness, physical pain, and isolation.  If you have lost or gained weight, you’re having trouble sleeping, you feel tired all the time, you find it hard to get out of bed or go to work, or you don’t enjoy the things that you used to, it is time to reach out. 

     Don’t allow society’s or the church’s stigma against mental illness keep you from getting the help you need. Don’t allow the lies to surround you in darkness and convince you there’s no way out.  There is a way out, and His name is Jesus.  His love for you can never be lost.  John tells us in 3 John 1:2 (ISV) “Dear friend, I pray that you are doing well in every way and that you are healthy, just as your soul is healthy.”  The health of your soul determines the health of everything else in your life.  The decisions we make, the words we speak and the things we believe, all stem from the condition of our soul.  Jesus wants us to walk in the light of His love and truth.  He is with us in the valley and on the mountain top.  Jesus is not condemning us, if we need help, we should seek it.  Therapy and medications do not make you less spiritual.  It takes great courage to admit and then accept that we cannot do this alone.  We must be vulnerable enough to reach out our hand and grab a hold of another. 

     As I look back over the years, I would say that I have dealt with depression for my entire life. After the loss of our 23-year-old son to suicide 6 years ago, I was clinically diagnosed with depression and, more recently PTSD.  Creating a conversation about mental health is something I passionately believe in. It’s something I deal with very personally because mental illness took the life of our beloved child. With the extravagant love of the Father, the patience and acceptance from my family, the support from my close friends, and therapy, I am climbing my way back to the top of this thing called life.

     My prayer is that through this blog we will further this discussion. There is a great need of the Church to rise up and be a beacon of hope and light, so that everyone in need of help will receive it, and that we as the Body of Christ will be on the forefront of tackling the topic of mental health in order to see liberation come to the broken-hearted.