How do you feel about depression as a Christian? When you are depressed, you think that God is away from you. Depression is a challenging condition for the Christian community. It is nothing unusual to feel dejected due to different complications in your life. However, when this feeling becomes intense, it becomes a matter of concern. To heal yourself, you can search for reliable Christian depression treatment centers.
Your family members and friends may not understand your sensations. Moreover, depression can affect the way you perceive reality. There are some stigmas and myths associated with Christian depression. It is important to get rid of those myths.
Myth 1- The feelings of depression are not real–
When you are truly depressed, others will feel that it is your pretension. Ultimately, you may not get help from anyone. So, you must keep away from this misconception and try to have assistance from depression treatment providers. Medications and other types of treatments will be effective for your condition. But, without any professional help, your negative feelings and dejection will continue for years.
Myth 2- Depression- It is a type of sin–
You must consider this condition as a mental illness and not as a sin. While feeling depressed, you lose joy and trust in God. Professional Christian depression treatment centers can help your condition.
What do others say when you have physical issues like backache? They will never say that you are sinful. It seems to be unreasonable to claim that depression results from sin.
God tried to create a world with perfection. However, evils shattered this perfection. Almost every individual has some suffering in his life. These evils break into God’s creation.
In most cases, traumatic events, negative environmental conditions, and stresses can trigger mental illness. Severe physical illness also causes depression in some patients. Moreover, stress may also result in ulcers and heart attacks.
So, condemnation is not the ultimate solution for depression. You need treatment to get back the joyful days in your life.
Myth 3- Praying to God can reduce depression–
Depression can bring serious concerns to your life. Professional medical therapy can save you from feelings of dejection. Surely, prayer to God is important at every moment of your life. Although God can help you with the divinely healing process, He may not work in this way all the time.
God has provided human beings with the capabilities of treating diseases with proper therapies. Thus, there are mental health professionals to help you.
The most important thing is that trauma and chronic stress can cause chemical transformations and physical effects on your body. Thus, it will worsen mental conditions like depression. Counseling and medical treatments are some reliable and safe ways to restore your mental health.
Emotional and environmental components also contribute to depression. But, some biological factors are associated with the condition. The reasons for feeling depressed can be different for every person. In fact, this mental illness involves the complicated part of your brain.
Doctors can identify biological factors, which trigger depression. Most commonly, neurological problems, genetics, and malfunctioning parts of your brain are factors causing depression. Right medications and counselling can alleviate the symptoms. As a Christian, there is no need to feel shame for relying on medical treatment for depression.
Myth 4– Depression is merely an excuse for avoiding Christian duty.
Variation: You are letting God and your church down if you are too depressed to serve or minister.
No one likes to hear your claims that you are depressed. Everyone will think that you are trying to avoid showing faith in Christianity. But, the truth is that God loves everyone regardless of how much you show devotion to Him.
Often, churches rally around those suffering from physical illness. However, patients with mental illness do not get this compassion. It is never desirable, and this judgment is not Biblical.
What are the symptoms of depression?
- Feelings of grief and helplessness
- Too little or too much sleeping
- Over/under-eating
- Frustration and irritability
- Inability to make decisions
- Loss of concentration
- Overuse of alcohol
- Tiredness
- Engrossed deeply in thoughts of death and failures
Consult a medical health professional when you have noticed these symptoms. Proper treatment at the right time will enable you to get rid of depressed feelings.
Start treatment for depression
You cannot recover from depression on your own. Trained counselors can help you by diagnosing your physical and mental health. In some cases, depression co-occurs with alcohol and drug abuse. The best Christian depression treatment providers can deal with both these issues with a proper therapy.
Though depression is a medical condition, you can find some holistic ways to treat it. Group therapy and individual counseling will eradicate your negative emotions and irrational beliefs. Moreover, trauma therapy, grief counseling sessions and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are useful for preventing depression. Furthermore, you must do physical workouts and eat nutritious food to stay healthy, mentally and physically.
