I am currently reading a book about this. When Darkness won’t seem to lift by John Piper. It talks about this very thing. I never thought that depression is just a spiritual darkness. I get depressed a lot, but now I look at it in a different light and turn to God instead of having pity on myself. I don’t think I lot of people realize that this is what depression is. I didn’t.

hmmmmm interesting. i remember you writing on this. i agree that people are popping pills wayyyyyyyyyy too much, especially in the church. i think anxiety needs to be put hand- in hand with this also. definitely believe clinical depression exists – as a professional i’ve seen it firsthand in tons of people. however, i also believe it’s not nearly as common as the meds that are prescribed for it. people want an instant fix on life’s problems, rather than just dealing with the crap that we’re handed. why are people getting depressed? i think sometimes life is just hard – deaths, postpartum, loss of job, etc. however, i also believe that in Christians, we do not utilize the Power of the Holy Spirit that we have whenever we ask for it. it’s easier to get a pill to feel better rather than learning what God may have us learn in the trenches. and i also believe that it is/can be a spiritual stronghold satan uses to prevent us from growing and being effective in Christ. easier said than done, but that’s my opinion. and you know how i love to give my opinion :)

I miss Journey BADLY! I can’t wait to get back.
This is one of my favorite topics! Thanks for mentioning it.I am a big believer in meds because they gave me my life back.

My 1st yr of college, I had been seeing a really good counselor for about 7 months and was still suicidal pretty often. I prayed for hours and fasted regularly and still the emotional ups and downs were just too much for me, so I asked to be put on meds. (anxiety runs deep my family, btw)

As soon as I started taking Zoloft, everything changed. I felt in control, I could make decisions, I could think clearly-it was awesome.

Being in therapy has helped me change my lifestyle to keep myself healthy and make good decisions, but I wouldn’t do one without the other.

As a followup, I would hope that everyone focuses on the issue at hand and realizes that at no time and in no way did I direct my entries at anyone in particular. I certainly understand that you can’t paint a broad stroke and say that all antidepressants or medicines are wrong for Christians. There are times that they are necessary, from our point of view.

However, I think the vast majority of prescriptive solutions of Zoloft, Prozac, etc. today are simply the result of a health care industry run amuck, one that would rather enjoy wealth than promote health. Obviously, there’s money to be made here. It makes far more economic sense to “sell” someone something than it does to tell them, “You’re just going through a very difficult time. Can I recommend a good counselor or church for you?”

We don’t hear much about demonic oppression or possession anymore these days. I think much mental dysfunction may actually be spiritual in origin. We have been conditioned by rationalism to factor God out of the health process – unless there’s no medical solution, then we’re quick to run to him and create a prayer chain or something similar.

Is it any wonder that in the most technologically advanced civilization on earth that we’re also the most depressed. We’re so advanced that we think we’re post-God. It’s human (sinful) nature to seek a quick fix apart from Him than to endure hardship with Him. Typically, we ask God to bless us in the midst of our poor decisions, banking on His forgiveness.

Our attitude is: “I want this so badly, and I feel that it may be wrong, but I’m not willing to wait on God’s deliverance or healing through prayer.”

We deem a week or a month as sufficient for waiting. However, as you study scripture, the unsettling reality is that some learn to wait a lifetime without complete deliverance. Rather, they learn all new depths and means of relying upong God for strength and grace. It is those who wait upon the Lord who renew their strength. Consider Paul who consistently asked God to remove his “thorn” without success. He was told, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Somehow, I think it would be preposterous to imagine, in our day, a Paul on Prozac.

I think it boils down to the fact that, for the most part, we are spiritual wimps.

I dispute that God wants any of us to enjoy consistent, unbroken “happiness.” Unfortunately, there are times that many believers have lived through (or died in) harsh and unfair circumstances and extremes. Consider Hebrews 11:35-38:

Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.

Should we presume to tell these martyrs (past or present) that God wanted them to be “happy,” or that it would be OK to deny Christ to ensure temporal peace?

I am saying that in response to those who seek in anti-depressants what they should be finding in God, not in response to those who may medically require treatment. I’m honestly not smart enough to know how the human body works and how God has designed it to respond emotionally.

However, I do try to read and believe God’s Word. It does not address issues of this nature specifically, but one has to believe that “dysfunctions” existed then as they do now. But how in our day are we to respond to the ability of medicine to “fix” things that may actually be the result of God’s intervening discipline, grace, or even our sin?

Again, the point of my original post and of this one, is that our culture is more prone to turn to Prozac and other gods when God doesn’t seem to be working as quick as we’d like Him to.