Dispelling the Myths of Depression
Wednesday October 18, 2006
I just finished a great book for Christians about depression - Seeing in the Dark: Getting the Facts on Depression and Finding Hope Again.
Let's face it, there's a giant stigma attached to depression amidst believers in the body of Christ. Among Christians, there's an even bigger sense of shame associated with taking medication for depression. These disgraces experienced by Christians with depression are dealt with - head on - in Seeing in the Dark, helping to dispel the myths of depression.
Seeing in the Dark is written by two Christian men, Gary Kinnaman and Richard Jacobs, MD. Kinnaman is a senior pastor with first hand knowledge of depression, as he himself suffers from mild chronic depression. Richard Jocobs is a medical doctor whose wife has struggled with bouts of severe depression. Together they present the facts on depression and offer hope-filled, practical and biblical advice to Christians surrounded by misconceptions about depression.
What impressed me most about this book was the balanced approach presented for depression treatment. Medication, professional counseling, psychotherapy, prayer, Christian fellowship, and Bible reading all play a vital role in the treatment of depression. It is a strategic book for dealing with every area of the depressed person's life - the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual.
I'm not the only one impressed with Seeing in the Dark. The June 12 edition of Publishers Weekly featured a starred review of Seeing in the Dark. I will recommend this book to anyone personally impacted by depression.
Image Credit © Bethany House Publishers
Comments
Very good article Mary, thank you. Depressive episodes are generally brought on by life stresses and everyone who suffers with Depression has their own triggers. Thanks for posting this Christian view about depression. I hope the stigma of this sometimes debilitating disorder or illness continues to lift as it is brought to light both here and in the media.
Jenny -
It’s really a great book. I see now that people with depression are very courageous and fight harder to get through life than most of us. It has changed my perspective.
I sometimes suffer from depression and don’t know how to deal with it. I’m not always wanting to go to christian counselor to seek help for fear of being judged. Just as fast as the symptoms appear, God does send someone to help bear the burdens I’ve been trying to carry alone. I just lost my father and that’s been the most difficult thing for me. My dad was my ear when I needed to talk to someone and the one person I never had to worry about judging me. I’m okay now, just learning to take it one day at a time and trust God more.
Shay -
I was away on vacation when you posted this.
I will pray for you … Ephesians 1:17-19 (NIV)
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength…”