Antidepressant issues and dealing with depression

There Are Ways to Get Through the Jungle of Depression
(Photo by Joyce Thiel)

COGwriter

Here is an article about antidepressant medications:

What Everyone Needs to Know About Antidepressants

January 4, 2026

•SSRI antidepressants are one of the most harmful medications on the market, and because of just how many people they are given to (often for no good reason as only a minority of patients benefit from SSRIs) they have had a profound effect on the consciousness of our entire society.

•This article will review some of the more common side effects of SSRIs (and SNRIs), such as becoming numb to life, becoming severely agitated and imbalanced (sometimes to the point one becomes violently psychotic), losing your mind, losing the ability to have sex, and the development of birth defects.

•Unfortunately, due to widespread denial in psychiatry about the issues with their drugs the common SSRI side effects are often misinterpreted as a sign the individual had a pre-existing mental illness and needs more of the drug—which all too often then leads to catastrophic events for the over-medicated patient.

•Like many other stimulant drugs (e.g., cocaine) SSRIs can be highly addictive. Because of this, patients frequently get severely ill when they attempt to stop them (withdrawals affect roughly half of SSRI users) and it is often extremely difficult to withdraw from them and very few doctors know how to safely facilitate this. …

One of the lesser known facts about the pharmaceutical industry is that more money is spent marketing drugs than developing them (this was even the case during COVID when the industry had been given a virtual monopoly because the government suppressed every off-patent medication).

In turn, you will frequently observe the industry concoct elaborate ways to make a useless (or worse) drug appear to be worth selling to all of America … https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/what-everyone-needs-to-know-about

Yes, antidepressant medications have issues. The BBC posted the following this past Fall:

Effects of antidepressants on physical health ranked for first time

22 October 2025

Side effects of different antidepressants have been ranked for the first time, revealing huge differences between drugs.

Academics looked at the impact medications had on patients in the first eight weeks after starting treatment, with some causing patients to gain up to 2kg in weight or vary heart rate by as much as 21 beats every minute.

Around eight million people in the UK take antidepressants.

Researchers warned the gulf in side effects could affect people’s health and whether they could stick to their prescription. …

The team analysed 151 studies of 30 drugs commonly used in depression, involving more than 58,500 patients.

Not everybody develops side effects but, on average, the results published in the Lancet medical journal showed:

• An eight-week prescription of agomelatine was linked to a 2.4kg drop in weight compared with maprotiline, which led to nearly 2kg of weight gain
• A difference of 21 beats per minute between fluvoxamine, which slowed the heart, and nortriptyline, which sped it up
• An 11 mmHg difference in blood pressure between nortriptyline and doxepin

“Clearly no two antidepressants are built the same,” said Dr Atheeshaan Arumuham, from King’s College London.

Those differences can stack up in ways that become clinically important, including an increased risk of heart attack or stroke. … some antidepressants are linked to higher cholesterol, including venlafaxine, duloxetine and paroxetine, so she might steer clear of those.

Fluoxetine – an SSRI that is also called Prozac – was linked to a drop in weight and higher blood pressure, in the study. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d65nqgd5zo

It is no surprise that there are negative physical effects from prescription medications. Nearly all of them are unnatural substances that were created by humans in a lab. Since they are foreign chemicals to the human body, it is no surprise that they can contribute to physical harm. They also can have negative mental and other effects.

In my decades as a natural health professional, let me state that I have been able to help many people with so-called mental disorders with natural substances. Nutritionally supporting the thyroid, brain, and/or endocrine system can help many.

Diet and nutrition do play a role. Studies have found that vegans are more prone to depression (e.g. see More Fake Meat = More Depression), which in my view, points to lack of certain trace minerals and/or amino acids being a dietary factor in depression. Exercise can also, often, help.

That said, there are also spiritual and psychological factors associated with depression.

Notice something published by the WCG last century:

How to Overcome Depression and Discouragement

Paul Krautmann & John Siston, Good New Magazine, January 1984

In the face of life’s trials, we need to know how to stay on the path of positive Christian growth.

Do you ever get discouraged?

Do hard times get you depressed?

Are you overtaken by feelings of despair and hopelessness?

A recent survey showed that 45 percent of the men and 57 percent of the women interviewed admitted to feeling depressed during the past year. Some specialists feel that 80 percent of Americans, for example, are experiencing differing degrees of depression at any given time.
So it would seem that depression is quite common. How do you deal with it when it enters your life?

Depression can range from occasional bouts of moodiness and discouragement to continued and extended periods of chronic despair. Some may experience it occasionally. To others it may be a way of life.

Churchill’s battle

Winston Churchill, though renowned for his optimism in times of adversity, suffered from prolonged and recurrent fits of depression. Many circumstances in his life contributed to this depression.

As a youth, Churchill had little contact with his parents. He was sent to boarding school, where he was unhappy. He received severe beatings from the headmaster. While he was in school, his parents seldom wrote; when his father did write, it was to rebuke his son.

At age 20 Churchill was in the army. In World War I he planned the Dardanelles campaign, in which many men lost their lives. This episode brought Churchill under heavy political attack and forced him to resign his command. Later, World War II brought many more moments of despair.

Yet Churchill was, for the most part, able to defeat his depression.

Negative thoughts originate with Satan the devil, who can capitalize on difficulties in our lives. Sickness, job pressures, other severe trials — the devil can use negative episodes like these to generate feelings of dejection.

“His own name for depression was ‘Black Dog’… In the course of his life, he experienced many reverses: disappointments which might have embittered and defeated even a man who was not afflicted by the ‘Black Dog.’ Yet, his dogged determination, his resilience and his courage enabled him, until old age, to conquer his own enemy, just as he defeated the foes of the country he loved so well” (Churchill: The Man, Anthony Storr, pp. 207, 245).

Of course, Churchill is hardly the only great person who has grappled with depression in adverse life circumstances. The Bible is replete with examples of servants of God who, in the face of intense trials, got discouraged. Their situations got them thinking negatively. They were tempted to give up.

Job, for example, felt that his trial was just too much to bear. He was despondent to the point of wanting to die (Job 6:1-4, 8-10).

Moses, to whom God personally gave the Ten Commandments, was dejected enough at one point that he asked God to kill him (Num. 11:11-15).

This was also true in the case of Elijah. God used Elijah to work many mighty deeds, yet he, too, was subject to depression (I Kings 19:4).

How about you? How do you cope with depression? Although these people had their trials, they found the strength to fight and win their battles with depression. We, too, must learn to thwart discouraging and depressing thoughts.

The origin of negative thoughts

To conquer depressing and discouraging thoughts, we must first recognize the cause of such thoughts. We need to realize that negative thoughts ultimately originate with Satan.

Satan can capitalize on the difficult circumstances that happen in our lives. You or a family member may be sick. You may be experiencing intense pressure on the job, or may even be out of a job. Or you may be wrestling with another severe trial in your life.

The devil can use these trials and negative episodes to generate feelings of dejection.

Satan, the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), can also broadcast negative feelings and moods into our minds even when there is no circumstance or apparent reason for us to be “low.” These thoughts can enter our minds quite subtly. For example, you might start thinking about all the things you don’t have but would like to possess, but for which you lack the money. Or that your personality or health is not as dynamic as that of some of your friends. Or that you get lonely sometimes.

Matters like these start to fill your mind. Before too long you can become depressed without even knowing why.

The way to protect ourselves from this kind of attack is to be constantly on guard against such depressing thoughts. And when they do start to grip us, to seek the counteracting help of God (Jas. 4:7). God is the one who will help us control them (II Cor. 10:4-5).

We have to trust God to help us in times of discouragement. This involves drawing on the power of God’s Holy Spirit — the mind, attitude and nature of God Himself. We have to walk with God.

Walk with God

Let’s face it: We usually get depressed because we are far from God. It is easy for negative moods to overtake us w hen God is not the center of our lives. Satan can easily take advantage of these moods and influence us to sink into even deeper despair.

The solution, of course, is to continually walk with God, particularly at times when we feel a mood of depression or discouragement coming on. The nearer we are to God, the more we develop the sound mind of God (II Tim. 1:7).
So how can we walk with God? Here are seven powerful ways to stay close to God and conquer depression and discouragement.

• Pray every day. Prayer is crucial. Without it our attitudes are easily battered by the world around us. We can overcome the world and its moods, however (John 16:33), by using the stabilizing, strengthening tool of prayer every day.

• Realize God’s presence. God is omnipresent, continually aware of what is happening in our lives (Ps. 139:7, Heb. 4:13). Nothing takes place of which God is not aware. Christ recognized this (Matt. 10:24-30) and we should, too.

During periods of depression there is a tendency to feel cut off from God or completely alone. But we can, and ought to, seek God’s help anytime (I Thess. 5:17).

• Respond to the Holy Spirit’s lead. David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). He sought God swiftly when situations in his life began to overwhelm him. He “made haste” when it came to obeying God (Ps. 119:60).
If we are being led by God, we will be moved to seek Him. The more effectively we can develop the habit of responding immediately to the influence of God’s Spirit, the more quickly our minds will take on God’s thoughts, replacing thoughts of discouragement and despair.

• Study the Bible daily. The Bible contains many encouraging and inspiring passages. It includes examples of faith of people who faced virtually insurmountable odds and yet overcame. The Bible shows us the greatness of God and the vastness of the master plan He has lovingly designed for the whole universe.

The more a Christian reads this book, the more he takes on the mind of God. This is why daily Bible study is essential. We need to make the Bible the basis of our behavior and the basis of the sound-minded, uplifting thoughts that dispel despair.

• Live the give way. Depression many times begins when we start to focus on ourselves. Thoughts of our own problems, fears and worries begin to fill our minds instead of the thoughts of God.

Pretty soon we lose perspective and our own little world starts to overwhelm us. We must not allow this to happen.

An excellent way to overcome feeling sorry for ourselves is by living the give way of life. We must always look for ways to help others, but especially at times when we develop an unhealthy preoccupation with ourselves (John 15:13). Maybe it is a matter of visiting those who are sick or cheering up someone who is feeling down. It might be writing a letter of encouragement, taking someone out to dinner, helping a person to move, serving a widow or the fatherless.

It is a matter of giving happiness to others. It is very difficult to feel discouraged when you are doing these things. Giving is a natural, unbreakable law that produces happiness for the giver. The key is to get your mind off yourself.

• Make each day count. Paul says that we are to redeem the time (Eph. 5:16, Col. 4:5). The New International Version translates Ephesians 5:16 to read that we should be “making the most of every opportunity.”

If we allow ourselves to get lethargic in our approach toward life, we give ourselves time to start thinking how much better off we ought to be.

Every day is a chance to grow, serve and produce. Do you view life as something you must endure, or do you instead take the initiative and strive to accomplish as much as you can in serving others and God’s Work?

Every day is a chance to grow, serve and produce. Do you view life as something that you must endure, or do you take the initiative and strive to accomplish as much as you can in serving others and the Work of God? How you answer that question will determine how God judges you (II Cor. 5:10).

Every day you have a chance to make an impact, whether it be on the job, at home, with your family, with your friends or elsewhere. There is much you can do within your own individual sphere of influence.

• Hold on to God no matter what. The Christian life is not an easy one. Everyone whom God calls can expect difficulties (Acts 14:22). At times these difficulties and problems can get the better of us. When this happens, we must, in spite of how bad things may seem, hold on to God and not let go.

In spite of his many hardships, the apostle Paul relied on God and did not allow himself to get depressed. He told the Corinthians:

“We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed… therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (II Cor. 4:8-9, 16).

Paul certainly had many reasons to get discouraged. His letters and the book of Acts record many unpleasant predicaments in which he found himself (II Cor. 6:8-10, 11:23-33). Yet he did not let circumstances dishearten him!

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:11-13, NIV).

As long as we hold on to God, God will not forsake us (II Tim. 3:11-12). He promises that He will deliver us (Ps. 34:19).

You need not suffer under the cloud of depression and despair. By applying these principles and by building the right positive mental habits, you can develop a happier, more positive outlook. You can win the battle over depression!

The WCG also published the following by Donald D. Shroeder:

Rid Yourself of the Dark Shroud of MENTAL DEPRESSION

Perhaps you are needlessly experiencing the feeling of hopelessness and despair. Isn’t it time you understood the reasons for this all–too–common human affliction?

IT is a tragic but real fact of life.

Mental depression has run like a heavy dark thread throughout the fabric of human history. Men and women, the great and small, have been afflicted with it. Brave, brilliant and insightful individuals have suffered periods of “the gray menace” — dark emotions that shrouded their lives in feelings of utter despair, hopelessness and helplessness.

Winston Churchill, one of the greatest statesmen of the World War 2 era, was beset by what he called his “black dog” of depression. Abraham Lincoln suffered frequent depressive moods in his life.

Biblical heroes — men of great courage — at times showed their human frailty and weakness by suffering from this problem. King David of Israel, Elijah, Jeremiah and others, all powerful prophets or leaders, experienced deep depressions, some to the point of wanting to die.

These men, however, found a way of escape from depression. They, and others since, were able to tap the right power and resources to conquer fear, worry, and deal with seemingly hopeless situations. Out of weakness they were made strong (Hebrews 11:34). Out of their suffering they became more stable, more compassionate, more mature persons.

Wearing Many Faces

Mental depression wears many faces. It knows no class barriers. It afflicts rich and poor alike, and even people who don’t realize they are suffering from it. Mental depression is a major affliction in young children, leading to increasingly more youthful suicides.

And, though mental depression afflicts young and old, it rises abruptly in incidence with adolescent years.

Depression is a broad range of negative states of mind. At one end of the scale, depression shows up as the common, short–term down or blue feeling after hearing bad news. Or perhaps learning of the loss of something or someone. Sometimes it results from a blow to the ego. This blue feeling may last for only a few hours or days at most.

At the other extreme are chronic or lifelong crippling emotions of futility, hopelessness, emptiness, lack of joy and energy. These can be coupled with total loss of self–esteem, unremitting guilt, shame and eventual suicide. There is much ground in between these two extremes. Mental depression may be mild, moderate or severe. Or it may be masked — a person doesn’t even realize he is suffering from it, though he manifests symptoms to others.

Every one of us has his blue days. It’s our common response to losses or setbacks, or to something we feel we failed to achieve in life. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” says scripture (Proverbs 13:12).

The vast majority of depressed persons (90 percent, estimate some authorities) eventually snap out of it, although it may take days, weeks or even months to fully recover. These persons resolve their losses, setbacks or failures and go on.

For around 10 percent of afflicted persons, however, depression becomes chronic or frequent, way out of proportion to a loss. For these persons, depression is unresolved and leads to week after week of feelings of helplessness and guilt — that life isn’t worth living. This condition is serious and needs skilled help.

Yet, most depressed persons are too ashamed to admit to anyone that they can’t cope with a certain problem or set of problems in life. Their depression, though painful, is covered up.

That’s false pride at work. No person is always strong or capable under every adverse condition, circumstance or setback in life. Everyone needs help with some problems in life.

What Depression Is

The majority of depressed feelings begin in response to a specific loss, fear of loss or adverse occurrence in life — something one can pinpoint. There seems no way of retrieving or achieving what is lost or what is threatened with loss.

The depressive cycle leads to collapse of self–worth, then to self–deprecation, then to a feeling that the situation is hopeless. Hopeless attitudes produce changes in responses of the mind and body, which begin to immobilize the person. Perhaps you have felt that helplessness.

In depression, all systems — mental and physical — slow down. Growing evidence from medical and mental health research indicates changes occur in the chemical balances of the brain and nervous system. These changed chemical balances alter transmission of brain and nerve impulses, which in turn, produce disturbing brain patterns and painful or crippling emotional and physical feelings.

Serious depressives often say: “I can’t get out of this…. It’s hopeless…. I’ll never get better…. Things will never change.” Others feel: “I’m powerless to do anything; what’s the use of trying?… There are no options…. I’m drained, empty. I can’t sleep. I can’t keep going on like this, but I see no way out.”

In serious depression, almost everything is viewed negatively. The future is seen as bleak, unrewarding, and there appears no way to change it. Depressives mentally stop fighting. They are possessed with their own sad feelings. They often assume others are equally obsessed with the same feelings (they are not).

One type of depressive, the manic–depressive, swings between periods of extreme optimism and unfounded pessimism.

Depressives stubbornly resist reassurances of their worth. Statements to “snap out of it” or “pull yourself together” usually have little effect. These persons, of course, do not need ridicule or further loss of self–esteem; their morbid mind is full already.

Hidden Depression

For every serious depressive there are several masked depressives — persons functioning, howbeit at far less than their ability, in Jobs, homes or schools. They don’t realize that their emotional problems, difficulties with a job or other people, or many of their physical ills, are caused by a subtle depression, which they do not recognize. For many of these persons, lack of positive emotions and attitudes have become a way of life for so long, they don’t realize why happiness and good feelings perpetually elude them.

Masked depressives find little true joy in life. They are constantly restless and irritable. They fill doctors’ offices with real or imagined complaints of lack of energy, chronic headaches, stomach problems, constipation, and similar ills. They are a large part of the army of up to 85 percent of patients visiting doctors’ offices whose health problems are largely mentally (psychosomatically) induced.

Many of these patients seek a miracle pill or drug to free them of their ills. The peace of mind and better health they seek will only occur when they develop a positive and constructive state of thinking and handling their problems!
Still others, because their depression is mixed with anxiety, engage in frenzied pleasure–seeking, sexual activity or even violence. Growing numbers of depressives drown their depression in alcohol or drugs to kill the mental pain of weakness, emptiness and futility.

What a tragic toll! And the reason is humanity has jumped the track! Let’s understand.

Vulnerable to Depression?

In normal grief at a loss, a certain amount of sadness or crying is often helpful and necessary to work through to normal feelings. Grief at the loss of a loved one or something highly valued is not wrong. It becomes unhealthy and damaging when it causes total loss of personal self–worth, or the desire to live. Grief is damaging when it is unresolved and one is crippled from ordinary human functions for weeks or months on end.

The line between natural remorse and pathologic depression may be a subjective judgment. To make an illustration, a man who loses a job and is unable to mobilize himself to find work for weeks after being fired or losing his job is seriously depressed and needs help and encouragement.

While the cause of a depression is often related to a loss one can pinpoint (sometimes called a reactive depression), the cause at times can be much more vague — a mood we don’t understand. Depressed feelings can come over a person for no seemingly rational reasons. But there are reasons nevertheless — mental, physical or spiritual reasons.

Endogenous depressions are related to less distinct causes that develop within a person — perhaps from subconscious or denied fears, needs or desires, which unsettling or unfavorable events now threaten. This kind of depression may develop either slowly or suddenly.

Vulnerability to frequent depressions often depends on the kind of encouragement, values, self–esteem, love or support (or lack of them) that we received in early years of life. Vulnerability may be related to how we learned to respond to losses or problems in life. In addition, certain personalities seem more sensitive to blue moods than others.

A depressive mood can float over the mind for no apparent reason. It could be the result of a final straw — reaching a breaking point in a series of unfortunate setbacks in life. Or it could happen for reasons that many totally overlook or are unaware of.

How many are aware that the violation of God‘s spiritual laws — the laws of love to God and other human beings, as revealed in the Ten Commandments — sets one up to experience problems or attitudes of mind for which there seems to be no hope or help?

And doing things we know are wrong results in negative or depressive feelings.

Unresolved resentment, bitterness, jealousy, envy or anger lead to feelings of loss, hence to depressed feelings. “Envy is as rottenness to the bones,” correctly states scripture (Proverbs 14:30). For such sins one needs to ask for forgiveness from God, and others you have offended. Then set your values right and resolve not to do them again.

Though many do not believe in evil spiritual forces — Satan and a host of fallen angels (demons) — they do exist and they do influence the minds and attitudes of unwary humanity. No wonder so many psychiatrists and their patients don’t understand some of their negative moods or attitudes! (See Ephesians 2:2–3)

Scripture warns, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness [wicked spirits, margin] in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

These evil spirits place damaging and negative moods and feelings in vulnerable or unwary human minds. In some weakened persons, they implant impulses to want to give up on life and end it.

Physical Causes

Overwork, prolonged mental stress, anxiety or fear may drain our mental and physical energy levels. Gone is the needed strength to cope with life and its problems.

Physical or mental exhaustion may take weeks or years to develop. But it eventually can translate into mental energy rundown — a feeling of being unable to cope.

Improper nutrition can gradually set one up for depression. Too many refined sugars, starches or fats in the diet, or other unbalanced nutrition, can weaken the body’s physical endurance, mental alertness and ability to handle problems or stress. Allergic reactions to certain foods or substances can also produce mental dullness, irritability or depressed feelings.

Proper sleep, diet and exercise is necessary to help avoid falling into depressed states of mind. Proper rest, food and creative activity are needed to help a depressed person come out of his or her condition.

Creative activity or achievement of any kind, even if it must start out small, should be encouraged for depressed persons. It is necessary to build up, a step at a time, a depressive’s sense of worth and accomplishment again. Accomplishments should be pointed out positively to the depressive, because their depressed attitude tends to downgrade even things they can accomplish.

Here is another important, but comforting, piece of knowledge: many deeply depressed persons feel they have totally lost all their former skills and abilities, hence are total failures. This is a misleading feeling caused by the depression.

Unfortunately, it viciously adds fuel to feelings of hopelessness and futility. But the skills and abilities are really still there! They will return as the person recovers from depression, as he or she reorders his or her life with positive values and attitudes.

Although many don’t realize it, boredom is another endogenous stress. The human mind and body were created to need a modest amount of healthy variety and stimulation to feel alive and maintain equilibrium.

Boredom is the absence or dullness of stimulation and feeling. Boredom produces apathy, lethargy, and loss of sense of worth and of positive feelings about oneself. Continual boredom will set one up for a depression. Many of the symptoms of boredom and depression are similar, only the intensity may differ.

This tragedy of boredom is virtually engineered in many areas of modern life — such as homes for the elderly, prisons for the criminal and bleak residential quarters.

Drugs and alcohol are often used to tranquilize the resulting pain or to fill the emptiness. Yet the pain and suffering will not be truly alleviated without an exciting, worthwhile goal or purpose in life. What is needed is a life filled with faith and hope for growth in the future.

Drug/Health Factors

Depressive feelings can be induced by certain drugs, abuses of alcohol, improperly working bodily functions or viral infections. This is called toxic depression.

Wrong use of certain drugs needs special emphasis. Many depressives take barbiturates sedatives, tranquilizers or alcohol — drugs that depress the central nervous system — to alleviate their suffering. Some doctors carelessly prescribe such drugs for vague physical or emotional complaints not realizing that the problem is not physical — the person is depressed. Biochemical responses are already depressing the depressive’s central nervous system. These drugs may alleviate certain pain or suffering temporarily, but in the long term they depress the brain and nervous system even more. This causes even less ability to solve underlying problems with right responses.

Imbalances in hormone production can also cause depressive feelings. This may happen from malfunctioning pituitary, adrenal, thyroid or other glands.

Menstrual, post partum (after birth) or menopause hormone changes sometimes produce negative moods.

Diseases such as diabetes, hypoglycemia, thyroid illness, mononucleosis, infectious hepatitis, a heavy touch of the flu or other poor health conditions can be responsible for some depressive feelings.

Because a wide variety of such conditions exist, anyone suffering from prolonged depressive feelings should seek a thorough physical examination to see to what extent any physical health problems may be involved.

Therapy Controversy

The medical and mental health professions today attempt to combat mental depression with a wide variety or combinations of drug, electric, verbal and health therapies. There is controversy over the effectiveness and safety of almost every technique.

An arsenal of new drugs have been developed in an attempt to calm or correct chemical imbalances in the depressed patient’s mind and central nervous system. Doctors must often experiment with different drugs, and many of these must be taken for several weeks to have an effect. Consequent side effects must then be dealt with.

Modern mental health officials hope such therapy will reduce distressing emotions and feelings to more tolerable levels. Meanwhile therapists try to discover the underlying causes and suggest a course of dealing with them. Or they hope patients relieved of some distressing symptoms will improve by themselves.

It is not our editorial policy to make judgments about what is good or bad therapy for depressed persons — all of which treats the effects, not the ultimate causes. Such a decision is the personal responsibility of individuals involved or those taking responsibility for them.

For some seriously or chronically depressed persons — especially those threatening suicide or bodily harm — certain drugs or other special treatments may be the only option available if rational communication is no longer possible or if immediate lifesaving is necessary.

An objective presentation of the benefits and problems associated with common modern depressive therapies is discussed in the book Depression — How to Recognize it, How to Cure it, How to Grow From it, by Wina Sturgeon.

Our editorial policy, by contrast, is to reveal the causes of our human problems — why humanity is plagued with so much mental illness, with fears, worries and depression.

The Missing Dimension

The missing knowledge about mental depression is revealed in the Bible. Here is spiritual knowledge that unveils both the causes and solution to most mental ills, fears and worries.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [and that includes spiritual knowledge]…” Why? “… because you have rejected knowledge…,” reveals the Creator in Hosea 4:6, Revised Standard Version.

Mental ill health is the result of broken spiritual and, possibly, physical laws that God set in motion and mankind as a whole has rejected.

Many modern minds think it educated to reject biblical revelation and the reality of immutable spiritual laws. But if we break these laws, eventually they break us!
Christ said, “… ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). God‘s written Word is truth. It makes us free — free of mental depressions, free of spiritual depressions, free of sin.

The truth that is missing in so many lives and in education in general is the true understanding of the purpose of human life and of the laws, Values and attitudes that produce peace of mind, joy and happiness.

Millions do not understand how and why their human nature develops with so many damaging values and fearful attitudes in life. Most humans have been blinded to the understanding of how they can receive the spiritual help and power they need to overcome their damaging human pulls and fears — of how to deal with every adverse situation in life with faith and hope — of how “to pray and not to faint,” as Jesus taught (Luke 18:1). (Plain Truth, February 1981)

In a 2008 sermon summary titled Ain’t it Awful, COGSC’s David Antion wrote:

If you watch enough TV news and TV ads you will become depressed. Ads are designed to make us dissatisfied with our lives. They may also appeal to our fears in order to motivate us.

The Bible refers to real depression. When we read Paul’s words in 2Cor 1:8 we see that he despaired even of life. He said he was “burdened excessively” (NASU). The word “burdened” means pressed down or weighed down. He wrote that it was “beyond our strength.”

Jesus warned against getting depressed and used the same word Paul did. We are not to let our “hearts” (minds) become “pressed down,” “burdened,” “weighed down,” or depressed by “dissipation” (KJV= surfeiting) which means dizziness, drunken headache as a result of too much partying with alcohol. In effect it is a hangover from a drinking bout. He mentions “drunkenness” directly and the “worries of life.” People can worry themselves into depression. It is also interesting that the number one cause of depression in American is alcohol.

Jesus was depressed the night before He was to be crucified. In Mark 14:33 Jesus is referred to as “distressed and troubled.” The word troubled is a Greek word that means depressed and anxious. The mind is whirling and frantic. Another Gospel refers to Jesus also as depressed, anxious and in mental anguish or pain. That is real depression!

But we can make ourselves depressed over imagined things by playing one of Eric Berne’s “games” – Aint It Awful. We can start to see everything in a negative light. Another thing we may do is to view things through the lenses of our own problems – marital, financial, health, job, etc. We may play a game I call “I Don’t Want To Fix It I Just Want To Gripe.” We begin to criticize what is NOT done. You can always find something that is not done.

The cure for this pseudo, self-generated depression is thanksgiving. When you give thanks you take stock of what you do have not what you don’t have. It keeps self-made depression away! Try it!

Of course, there are many causes of depression as well as various interventions to help cure it.

Understanding why you were born as well as what God’s plan is for YOU can also be of great help.

Lonely people are often prone to depression. The Continuing Church of God put out the following sermon from its ContinuingCOG channel related to loneliness:

1:12:38

Loneliness and ways to help cure it

The late Roy Orbison had a song titled ‘Only the Lonely.” Many people are lonely, whether they are single or married. Does Satan prey on the lonely? Is it fine to live as a hermit? Is there a place for “alone time.”? What does the Bible say about being alone? What can be done to deal with loneliness? Was there loneliness in the old Worldwide Church of God? What about fellowship? What are steps that Philadelphian Christians, and those that wish to be, can take? What should your focus be? Can Jesus really help you? Can you give love, forgiveness, and kindness now? Will God’s people have massive amounts of friends in the coming Kingdom of God? What steps should you take now to deal with loneliness? What did the old Radio Church of God publish about dealing with loneliness? Dr. Thiel addresses these matters and more.

Here is a link to the sermon: Loneliness and ways to help cure it.

Happier people are not as likely to be depressed. The Continuing Church of God has the following sermon related to happiness on its ContinuingCOG channel:

Here is a link to the video sermon: 14 Biblical Keys to Happiness.

The following are other items of related interest:

How to Overcome Depression and Discouragement This is an article by Paul Krautmann & John Siston.

Should Christians Exercise? What does the Bible teach? What are some of the benefits and risks of exercise? Here is a link to a related video: The Plain Truth About Exercise.

What is the Meaning of Life? Who does God say is happy? What is your ultimate destiny? Do you really know? Does God have a plan for YOU? What is it?

The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why Did God Make You? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, Mystery of Race, and The Mystery of YOU. Here is a link to two videos in Spanish: El Misterio del Plan de Dios and El Misterio de Satanás, el Misterio de la Verdad, el Misterio del Reposo.