Depression

[Eulaha L. Long]

Al, I was acting like a jerk too, and for that I apologize.

I don't think God is "punishing" me with the affliction of a chemical imbalance, but I do know that He is using it to cause spiritual growth and maturity.  There are days that all I can do is cry out to Him for comfort.

There are plenty of people who tell me that I'm just making all this stuff up, but God knows the truth.  My family, though they don't fully understand, has been a great source of support. I also chat in a depression support room found by going to:

www.depressionchat.com

There you'll find people going through the same things.

[al Hartman]

   ...chat in a depression support room found by going to:

www.depressionchat.com

There you'll find people going through the same things.

Eulaha,
     Thanks for the link.  It's a gift that I hope will benefit many besides you & me.  Cathy & I both have fibromyalgia, & I have chronic fatigue syndrome, both of which have links at the depression site.

     I know what you mean about people thinking you're making it up.  There are no outward syptoms of depression.  If our joints were severely swollen or we had open sores it would be OK with them, but just wanting to withdraw & sleep appears to them as laziness.  Anxiety seems foolish to those who aren't anxious and depression is a myth to someone who wakes up every morning feeling great.
     A few years ago I was introduced to a woman who suffered severely from an ailment that had no evident symptoms.  When she found out that I understood, she would have spent the entire day with me, just happy to have someone with whom she felt free to talk.  People can be very intolerant of whatever they don't understand, & relatively few are prepared to accept what is beyond their personal experience.
     Perhaps that is why some of us are permitted to suffer the things we do:  that we may intercede in one way or another for other sufferers.

God bless you real good!
al

[al Hartman]

     One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.

     Bertrand Russell (1872-1970),
     philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate

[shinchy]

     One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.

     Bertrand Russell (1872-1970),
     philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate

In the case of GG, it seemed like the sympton was around for a very long time?

Bertrand Russell was some interesting post-Assembly reading for me a few years ago. I don't completely agree with how Russell went about his essay "Why I am not a Christian" but I did think about "Why I am not an Assembly-ite" when I read it.

I completed a BA in English after leaving the Assembly and, interestingly, the Assembly is partly to thank for my being able to understand and appreciate literature as a lot of it alludes to the Bible and I, like plenty of other people, did lots of Bible reading during the Assembly years.

[Margaret]

It's also a characteristic of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

[Oscar]

     One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.

     Bertrand Russell (1872-1970),
     philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate

In the case of GG, it seemed like the sympton was around for a very long time?

Bertrand Russell was some interesting post-Assembly reading for me a few years ago. I don't completely agree with how Russell went about his essay "Why I am not a Christian" but I did think about "Why I am not an Assembly-ite" when I read it.

I completed a BA in English after leaving the Assembly and, interestingly, the Assembly is partly to thank for my being able to understand and appreciate literature as a lot of it alludes to the Bible and I, like plenty of other people, did lots of Bible reading during the Assembly years.

Shinchy,

I read "Why I am not a Christian" several years before I got involved in the assembly.  About 1963 or 64 if I remember correctly.

I wanted to see what the anti-Christian big guns had to say.

I was surprised to find out that all Russell had to say was a slightly more eloquent version of what I had heard from my barracks mates when I was in the USAF.

Needless to say, I was not impressed.

God bless,

Thomas Maddux

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Can anyone give me information regarding your search for a counselor? A few friends have been (gently) suggesting that I seek help, but I am rather frightened. How could I even begin to explain this... phenomenon to someone who is completely uninitiated? How do you communicate that you grew up knowing little more than an extreme and fundamentally tainted belief system? That your entire frame of reference is foreign to the collective memory of your peers? That you have assimilated yourself into society through painful effort? I know that I need help interpreting and discovering what actually happened to me, but... I guess I'm just scared.

Does counselling help enough to merit the search?

[Mark C.]

Hi Rumple!

  I don't have much time to try and answer your question re. using a counselor or not at the moment, but if you would like to e-mail me I will be able to get back to you by the weekend.
   It is important to know what your particular needs are so that you find the right counselor.
   Just having someone to talk to who has been through what you've been through can help a great deal.
   It is my opinion that those struggling with serious depression should seek professional help.  
    Recovery from one's time in the Assembly might require a special counselor who understands your particular needs.  For others, this forum here, along with reading books that have been recommended by former Assembly members, will be sufficient.
   I have to go, but I just wanted to let you know that I am available to try and help you find the resources that you need.
                               God Bless,  Mark C.  
 

[shinchy]

Hi Rumple!

  I don't have much time to try and answer your question re. using a counselor or not at the moment, but if you would like to e-mail me I will be able to get back to you by the weekend.
   It is important to know what your particular needs are so that you find the right counselor.
   Just having someone to talk to who has been through what you've been through can help a great deal.
   It is my opinion that those struggling with serious depression should seek professional help.  
    Recovery from one's time in the Assembly might require a special counselor who understands your particular needs.  For others, this forum here, along with reading books that have been recommended by former Assembly members, will be sufficient.
   I have to go, but I just wanted to let you know that I am available to try and help you find the resources that you need.
                               God Bless,  Mark C.  
 

I definitely second what Mark said about professional help. My 2 cents is to find a counselor whose professional beliefs/philosophy is compatible with yours. Someone who will do the real work and not push pills is my kind of counselor, for example. So have your objectives, what you as the patient are willing to work with, in mind when seeking a counselor.

[al Hartman]

Summer,

     First, some serious prayer for the Lord's insight and guidance.  Depression is a clinical problem, and may be clinically treated with medicine and/or therapy, but for the Christian, the solution is still always a spiritual matter.  All other considerations must be incorporated within God's ultimate purpose in redemption.

     Take a look at:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=depression&btnG=Google+Search
There are a lot of sites listed there, and I am not familiar enough with them to recommend any.  See if any of the descriptive blurbs on the menu page sound intriguing.  Above all, keep praying!

God bless,
al

[al Hartman]

Al, Yes I've been praying and have looked at the sights...My friend is Jewish do you think its the same type of Spiritual Warfare??? Thanks Sum...

     As I see it, there is only one kind of spiritual warfare.  You may be a Jew, a Buddhist, an atheist, an astrologist, what have you.  The god of this world has launched an all-out campain to discredit the One True God and to rob every living soul of the opportunity to receive redemption from sin through Jesus Christ.

     See Jeremiah 11:13:  For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.  The prophet is telling God's people that all gods are false except for the One True God, and that all altars that are not for Jehovah are for Baal.  The battle may take many forms, but the battleground is always the human soul, and the contestants are always God and satan.

al

[lenore]

THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL SITE ON ENCOURAGEMENT , ABOUT A REAL PHYSICAL DISEASE:
CALLED DEPRESSION.
TEN YEARS AGO, I SUFFERED MY FIRST BREAKDOWN AND WAS DIAGNOSIS WITH CLINICAL DEPRESSION.
A YEAR AGO CHRISTMAS , I WAS HOSPITALIZE FOR DEPRESSION.

ANTIDEPRESSIVE CAN MAKE YOU VERY SLEEPY, SHAKY, ENERGIC, LOSE WEIGHT, GAIN WEIGHT.

SOME TIMES IT JUST A MATTER OF ADJUSTING THE DOSES OR CHANGING THE MEDS.

THERE ARE ALSO MANY HERBAL REMEDIES, BUT CHECK WITH THE DOCTOR , FOR SIDE EFFECTS.

IF YOU YO YO ON AND OFF THE MEDS. IT TAKES LONGER AND HIGHER DOSAGE TO STABLIZE AGAIN.
AND THE SIDE EFFECTS ARE WORSE UNTIL STABILIZATION OCCURS.

DEPRESSION IS A PHYSICAL DISEASE NOT A ITS ALL IN YOUR HEAD.

LIKE DIABETIC DISORDERS, WHICH TAKE A DAILY DOSE OF INSULIN. DEPRESSION  IS A CHEMICAL  IMBALANCE, TAKES A DAILY DOSE OF THAT CHEMICAL.

ALL I WAS GOING TO SAY. THANK YOU FOR THIS SITE.
GOD BLESS YOU AND AMEN(I WOULD INCLUDE A PRAYING SMILEY)

[lenore]

MAY 24 4:22 AM EST:

THANK YOU.
I am on the road to recovery once again.
Thanks to God guiding me on that road, Thanks to Prayers of believers, and thanks for God given Wisdom of modern medicine.

[lenore]

 :)JUNE 25: 4:26 AM:

ON WEDNESDAY I ATTENDED A PRESENTATION:
ON DEPRESSION:

IT WAS A POWER POINT PRESENTATION. I HAVE THE WRITTEN FORM.  There was much discussion.

But if any one wants information from the hand out about depression: email me I will be glad to send you some of the points.

such as

Depression is a disease

Serious health problems
Possible causes
Associated disorders
Some stats.
Mood symptoms
Medical illnesses
Medical therapies

Major Depressive Disorder :
Diagnosis is Important
It is controlable.

The presentation with the discussion with the participants went for 2 hours.
It was well worth the session.

[al Hartman]

     In the history of mankind, "depression" is a relatively recently applied term used to describe a variety of psychological symptoms ranging from mild to volatile.
     The Bible cites numerous examples of what today's mental health professionals might call depression, notably among prophets and kings in the Old Testament, disciples in the New, and the heathen of every age.

     The Christian who suffers symptoms of depression stands to learn much about his or her affliction through science's explanations of the causes of depression; that is, the physical, mental, emotional, and environmental factors that contribute to its manifestation.  The world of mental health science & sociology and Christianity share one common goal regarding depression:  that it not lead to the destruction of life, but beyond that single commonality, the pursuit diverges into two separate paths.  The Christian must be utterly clear on this in order to follow the correct pathway.

     Simply put, the natural goal of the depressed and those who study depression is:  Relief.  Call it a cure, healing, deliverance, emancipation-- it is all one thing:  Make it stop!  Make the pain go away.  Make me feel better.  Make me well.  There is nothing abnormal about this-- it is the automatic response to pain; the same instinct that makes us pull our hand back from an open flame.  But relieving the pain of depression can have costly side effects.

     After determining that my depression stemmed from a chemical imbalance in my body, doctors treated me with a variety of pharmaceuticals, attempting to establish the balance they thought would be right for me.  There were times when I was delivered of my depression, but was also so devoid of other emotional responses that I found it impossible to empathize with others or care about their concerns.  That was overkill-- I could not afford to sacrifice my relationship with Christ or the rest of humanity merely so I might feel better.

     Christian, study the world's findings about the possible sources of your depression.  Learn what you can about the physical and mental aspects of feeling whole, but don't stop there.  You must know that in God's economy, your depression has a purpose.  Categorize depression with every other form of suffering that a saint may be called upon to endure.  Endure is the key word, for the affliction is present, not merely that it may be cured, but that God may be glorified through it.

       Everyone who is depressed suffers, to greater or lesser degree, and most seek relief.  Ask God for added grace that you may be one who can say, "Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.  Be glorified through my affliction, and enable me to serve you faithfully whether or not I am relieved."  That is the side of it the world does not know.  That is the purpose of depression.

al