What is it?
What causes it?
How do I know if am depressed?
What can be done about it?
Where does one's faith fit in?

What is Depression?

"Depression" has been called the "common cold" of mental disease just because it is so widely experienced. All people feel sad from time to time but normally these feelings pass with time, for time does heal some wounds.

However, depression is experienced by those for whom the passage of time seems to bring little or no relief. In them feelings of extreme sadness or despair last for at least two weeks or longer and these feelings usually interfere with normal living -- ie., sleeping, eating, working, playing and loving. In this case the individual feels helpless and hopeless about their state, often together with guilt about being in the state at all. In more extreme cases people may have thoughts of death or suicide.

Normally people who are depressed experience physical and emotional exhaustion and tend to withdraw from family, friends and normally pleasurable activities.

Causes of Depression

There are many factors associated with depression and the chief causes vary from person to person. The following is a list of the kinds of causes which have been documented in research.

During the past few years there has been an enormous influence of the bio/medical explanation for depression. This school of thought hypothesizes that depression is a product of either or both of genes and serotonin depletion in the brain. While it is no doubt true that significant changes in the body's chemistry influence mood and thought processes, and biological factors contribute to some cases of depression it is likely that the cause of the current 'epidemic' of the experience of depression has causes which lie elsewhere. Unfortunately, because of the popularity of this model within the medical profession and the media, other causes are not explored as fully as they could be.

There are however other ways that depression can also be looked at, with at least as much validity as the above, or more. The psychological explanation of depression suggests that the cause of depression is more likely to be found in the way we think about ourselves, others and life. For example, a person who is very critical of themselves is not likely to be very happy about themselves, generating a degree of sadness which will grow over time. Those who are pessimistic about life will tend to look on the dark side of things. Those who nurse old hurts and grudges will not find much happiness in the present.

There is also a sociological way of thinking about depression. This suggests that much of our experience of sorrow is because life itself is not going well. We may be overworked, overwhelmed, underappreciated, and underpaid. Life transitions and/or major challenges such as the death of a loved one or the loss of a job can help bring about depression. The causes of depression are not always immediately apparent, so the disorder requires careful evaluation and diagnosis by a trained mental health care professional.

Finally, there is a 'spiritual' way of looking at the experience of depression. By this I mean within the framework of ultimate meaning and values. For example in mid-life, many men and women go into a depressive slump as they re-evaluate their lives, and wonder whether their choices were indeed worthwhile. They may review their meaning system (ie., return to church after a long absence, or leave an unsatisfactory church, for example). Human beings are born meaning makers, so when there is a collapse in meaning in our lives, we will feel distressed until the matter is resolved.

This very brief essay opens up then the complexity of our experience of sorrow, and a richer way of understanding depression is that it is a complex bio-psycho-social-spiritual problem. It is not as simple as defining it as a disease and treating it with a pill, or the advice to 'snap out of it because there are others worse off than you'.

Most current evidence suggests that the most effective treatments for depression are:

(1) Good psychotherapy (there are unhelpful forms!)

(2) Exercise

(3) Medication* in conjunction with either or both of the above

*Medication alone does not seem to be as helpful on its own.

By the way, if you are on medication and are reading this, do not take yourself off it without consulting with and working through the subject with the doctor who prescribed it. Pills do affect us, and should not either be taken, or let go of, without consulting the prescribing physician.

As depression is a common disorder affecting about 3 to 4% of the adult population at any one time there is nothing to be ashamed of in experiencing it. Possibly up to half of the normal population will have a significant experience an episode of depression during the course of their lifetimes. It goes with the territory of being alive!

Symptoms of Depression

* Depressed Mood
* Crying
* Suicidal thoughts
* Insomnia
* Guilt feelings
* Physical slowness or fatigue
* Difficulty concentrating or memory problems
* Agitated feelings or behaviors
* Increased anxiety or fearful feelings
* Bodily complaints (gastrointestinal problems, etc.)
* Loss of sexual desire, or pleasurable feelings
* Weight loss (and sometimes weight gain!)

If you have several of the above symptoms, and they have lasted more than two weeks or so, then you probably are having a serious depression or mood disorder. If any of the above symptoms are causing you noticeable distress or inability to function in your life, no matter what the time frame involved, you should seek professional assistance.

Treatment of Depression

Treatment of Depression can take place in any number of ways, either taken individually or together:

* counselling - to share problems and work out effective strategies
* diet and exercise - to get the blood flowing again, and oxygen into the lungs
* prayer and meditation - to focus and calm the mind, body and spirit, and * * medication - to help restore bio-chemical imbalances

Depression and Faith

Some people who are followers of Jesus Christ feel an extra degree of guilt about experiencing depression - ‘faith should be enough they feel’. This is an honourable position to take, yet in the Bible there are a number of examples of people experiencing depression (Moses, Elijah, Job, and in some of the Psalms to name a few). Faith does not protect us from the common experiences of emotional turmoil or struggle. These are the temptations 'which are common to all people". but faith in Christ certainly gives us extra resources to cope, if we know how to use them.

Finally, this is an all too brief essay on a complex subject comes to an end, there is so much more that could be said. I know what it is to fall into the sorrow we call depression, over my lifetime I have had a number of serious episodes until I learned to master the condition when I was in my mid to late '40's. Each time the specific triggers were different, and usually unexpected, but I am thankful to report, that since I found out how to run my mind properly, I have not had another reoccurrence! Praise be to God!