Christians and Depression - Part 2 of 2

by Dr. Colleen Hammermaster

[READ PART 1]

Dr. Colleen Hammermaster

In the Christian world, low self-esteem often translates to, Jesus can't really use me, or I don't deserve His love, or, The spiritual gifts that were given to me by God, aren't as good as those of other people. Low self-esteem that is central to depression keeps us focused on self.

In our feelings of worthlessness we ruminate about our inadequacies. It's still all about me.

And that's just where Satan wants us to be-in a place that keeps us from serving God using all of the special gifts and abilities to serve Him in a unique way.

Satan and depression

Satan likes nothing better than to render Christians ineffective through depression. The apostle Peter stated that Satan walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and one way he attacks us, is by robbing us of the Truth of who God made us to be. Satan has a vested interest in separating us from the love of God as he tries to rob of any sense of identity and purpose.

Four Major Symptoms of Clinical Depression

1. Sad affect: A depressed person looks sad. He or she cries often or feels like crying. She looks tired, discouraged, or dejected. She will often lose interest in her personal appearance. Even if he or she tries to hide the depression by smiling, it still shows.

2. Negative and distorted thinking: A depressed person's thinking is very inward-focused in a derogatory way. She ruminates over past mistakes; worrying over past wrongs and future situations. She believes she is inadequate-not good enough; smart enough (dumb), attractive enough (fat and ugly) or not successful enough (lazy).

In her negativity about herself, she expects others will also see her as "less than,"-not measuring up to what they expect. As a result she feels rejected and unloved. In essence, the depressed person has an overwhelming sense of inadequacy and feelings of worthlessness-as if she is a nobody.

3. Physical Symptoms: Actual biochemical changes take place in the human nervous system during clinical depression. Our brain runs on serotonin the way cars run on gasoline. Biochemical changes have physical results: the body movements of the depressed person usually decrease.

The quality of sleep is affected (either difficulty falling asleep, or more often waking up too early, and unable to fall back asleep). Appetite is also often affected, by eating either too much or too little, with resulting weight gain or loss.

Gastrointestinal problems relate to appetite changes, and upset stomach, diarrhea or constipation, often occur. The menstrual cycle may stop for months, or may be irregular. Tension headaches are common in depressed individuals. People often think they have a physical disorder, such as hypoglycemia (low blood sugars), rather than depression because of their physical symptoms, and many would actually prefer to have a physical illness to save face.

4. Anxiety: A fourth major symptom of depression is anxiety or agitation. Anxiety and depression usually occur together. The person is often more irritable than usual. They worry about everything, and expect negative outcomes, and as the depression increases, so does the agitation. -C.H.

Satan lashes out in ways that are familiar to all of us. He tells us we are not good enough; we must do more-of everything (busy bee) or do better (or perfect) in everything (perfectionist). Only then will we feel good about ourselves.

Evil Satan knows that if we believe the lie that we must do it all, we will soon face failure, because we are limited and can't do all! In the meantime we lose sight of God's plan for us, and become caught up in ourselves and our need to prove something by worshipping the idea of "more." We end up defeated, and alienated from God, and too exhausted to offer any service to Christ. We end up depressed, paralyzed and unable to serve.

The same thing happens as we strive toward impossible perfection. Perfection is an arrogant state of being because we all are sinners. We can't live without making mistakes, hurting others, and falling short. To pretend that we can do things according to the ideal is to ignore the fact that we are sinners. It is like saying "I don't need God and the sacrifice of His Son." Or it is an attempt to find some sense of self-worth through the quality of our accomplishments. But this is also misdirected, because our self-worth comes not from who we are or what we accomplish, but because of Christ's love for us, who He made us to be, and the things He accomplishes using us as His instruments.

Again, as Satan strives to rob us of the truth, we are paralyzed by our fear of not being good enough, and therefore do nothing-just what Satan wants.

We prevent and fight depression by relying on the truth. Scripture tells us what to believe and what is true, and we see in Scripture that God doesn't expect us to be perfect. Our worth is already recognized in the eyes of God our Father, and fortunately He does not measure our value based on how much we do or how perfect we are. He is the author of the truth. He already knows that we can't do it all or we can't do it perfectly, after all, we are limited sinful human beings. And that's why He sent His only Son as a sacrifice for our sins, inadequacies, and imperfections. Let's not ignore this precious sacrifice in our misdirected attempts to redeem ourselves by trying to be perfect, by trying to do it all, or by trying to be more than we really are. Here is the key: Be who God made you to be.

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Your unique Christian identity

God created us to do something, and that something is a little different for each of us. We are not carbon copies of each other, but rather He gave us different, special and unique gifts to use in His service. This is not to suggest that one person is better than another, but we were meant to serve God in a unique way, based on the unique gifts He gave us. We don't have to do it all and serve God in all ways.

Someone else will use their specific gifts to do their piece of the puzzle. Just as Paul wrote about everyone being part of the body of Christ; we are not all left hands. You are a left hand, another a right leg, and another is pair of eyes.

Overcoming depression

For some people, antidepressant medications may be recommended as part of the treatment for depression. This is a personal decision, and does not suggest personal weakness or a lack of faith. In fact, for some people, antidepressants may be required to bring the person's level of functioning to a place where they are able to think clearly and work through the cognitive, emotional, physical, and spiritual challenges of depression. The point is, however, that to "overcome" depression one needs to attack the problem of depression at its root. It is the focus of this article, to equip you in the battle against forces that contribute to depression.

Accepting the gift of forgiveness means we forgive ourselves.

1. Seek the truth as established by the Word of God

Divine healing is based on Christ's truth-knowing and living it. We are sinners, and as such, imperfect human beings. But God has plans for us, and at our birth equipped us to serve Him, each in special and unique ways. This is the basis of our identity and purpose. The basis of our self-worth is who we are in Christ, not the meagre things we do.

2. Realize that no one is perfect

Everyone sins and makes mistakes, falling "short of the Glory of God." In 1 John 1:8 it says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." However, that is no reason to give up and give in to depression. Our sinfulness should not be the focus of our lives, either. We need to know our sin and learn from it. We need to confess it to Christ, and as He offers us the gift of forgiveness, accept His gift. Accepting the gift of forgiveness means we forgive ourselves.

3. Stop trying to do it all

Since we are not perfect, we cannot do it all. When we try, we are destined for burnout, failure, anxiety and depression. When we behave like we must do it all, we are demonstrating an unhealthy arrogance and self-centredness. We are not capable of doing it all. There are other parts of the body of Christ who are intended and better equipped to do other parts of God's work. Our job is to do the part God specifically equipped us for.

4. Recognize your God-given gifts and start using them

At your birth, God made you uniquely you. It is important for you to know who God made you to be and the specific purpose He has for you. Satan works hard to convince us we are not special, and if we believe him, he has succeeded in robbing us of the way God wants us to serve Him. Often people need help seeing how God made them unique. That's when Christian counselling can be helpful. Or turn to your friends, or look at your life's history.

5. Change the way you talk to yourself

There is no point to constant, negative, critical thinking. When we constantly criticize ourselves, we are criticizing God's workmanship, and suggesting that God made a mistake by creating us. We end up feeling hopeless and alienated from God. We end up depressed.

6. Increase self-esteem

See yourself as God sees you -- no more and no less. Don't confuse "pride" with self-worth; they are opposites. Pride focuses on oneself, and living for oneself. Self-worth is acknowledging the gifts God gave you, and using them in His service.

7. Know the truth

Depression's triggers shake us off balance so we become confused and lose our healthy Christian perspective. Our Christian truth, the truth that tells us who we are and why we are here, is lost. If you are not clear on who Christ made you to be and why you are here in this life, you are vulnerable to depression. Without Christ's truth as the centre of your universe, it all seems pointless, and hopeless. As a Christian psychologist I believe that to stand strong and to be able to withstand the risk of falling into depression, or to pull yourself out of a depression that has already taken hold, you need to know who you are in Christ and why you are here. This gives you all the purpose, meaning, direction, and fulfilment you need to focus your life and to live as a healthy, committed servant of God.

This article is contributed by Colleen Hammermaster, a Christian counselling psychologist. She has worked at Concordia University College of Alberta in Edmonton for 11 years, counselling students and staff, and teaching University courses in Educational Psychology. She has also worked in the hospital setting as well as in the Psychiatric Hospital setting. For the past 8 years she has been providing counselling services in her own private practice. She has counselled hundreds of individuals struggling with a wide variety of emotional issues and problems, and has led many workshops and presentations for both private and public agencies. Dr. Hammermaster has a doctoral degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Alberta, and has written many articles of relevance to Christians on topics such as: how to stop worrying, avoiding the time crunch, preventing burnout, self-esteem in relationships, and coping with depression.

August 14/2008