Monday, 15 August 2011
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Is Depression a Sin?
Decide for yourself (before I offer my own commentary. Ha!). Here are some quotes from a pamphlet on depression. If this is too tedious for you to read, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the post for a 4-point summary.- "Your depression can be overcome, not only now, but for good.... 1. You must know God personally before you can expect Him to give you the help that you need. 2. You must not put the alleviation of the depression first as your goal, but rather the desire to please God by doing what He says. 3. You must do exactly what He says regardless of how you feel.... Depression can be defeated by God's directions and by the power that God gives through His Spirit to enable those who know Him to follow His Word."
- "Knowing God is a condition to victory over depression; however, knowing Him in itself will not solve the problem.... You need to recognize that depression comes as the result of a failure in self-control and self-discipline.... Homemakers and all those who must set and keep their own schedules are particularly vulnerable to depression.... Often all that it takes for her to begin the descent into despair and depression is to experience a setback that tempts her to focus upon it and to forget her obligations. Her schedule is broken, she gets behind in her chores, which then begin to mount up and... she is by then already heading straight down the road that leads to depression."
- "The guilt that underlies depression comes from the failure to handle the problem or setback God's way.... Depression comes when we fail to handle the blues, the disappointment, the perplexity, the guilt, or the physical affliction God's way. The bad feelings originally may have come from your own sin or from the fact that after having the flu for four days you must go back to work that has piled up in your absence and that you do not feel like doing both because it is greater than usual and you are weaker than usual.... Instead of doing what you know that you ought to do, when you give in to your feelings, hoping that later on you will feel more like doing the dreaded duty, you have already taken several strides down the dismal path of depression."
- "The key to warding off depression, then, is this: do not follow your feelings when you know that you have a responsibility to discharge. Instead, against your feelings, you must do as you should. And when you do, even if at first you do so mechanically, simply because you want to please God and you know that He wants you to do this, in time your feelings will change.... Do what you know God wants you to do, WHETHER YOU FEEL LIKE IT OR NOT, and a change in feelings will take place, as a by-product, in time.... There is no other way."
Author's Summary of the pamphlet:
"1. Confess your sin of failing to assume your responsibilities along with any other sin that you may have failed to confess.
2. Begin to do whatever it is that God wants you to do in order to please Him, regardless of whether you feel like it or not.
3. Deal biblically with any particular sin that may have triggered the bad feeling originally (the feeling may not have originated in sin however.)
4. Avoid pity parties, blue funks and gripe groups. Schedule your work, then follow your schedule, not your feelings."
What do YOU think? Do you agree or disagree? Do you agree with parts and disagree with others? Do you think there is more to the story?
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- From: mevlink@xanga
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Comments (101)
Depression is not a sin. However, how you choose to handle it, can be.
"Don't believe your feelings." "Emotions aren't important." That's the bullshit they feed you...I've seen normal and happy and healthy people turn into fucking psychos because of advice in their bullshit books.
I almost completely disagree with this. Depression can be a result of biological and circumstantial factors. If someone becomes depressed because their spouse of fifty years dies, are they sinning? If someone's brain does not produce the right chemicals, are they culpable?
Biblical figures who were depressed: Elijah, David, (probably) Moses. There are others, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. In their cases, God met them with love and help, not condemnation. Specifically in Elijah's case, God told him to get up and go, but not before refreshing him and meeting his needs.
Can depression be a result of sin? Sure, and if we're sinning, it's a good thing God lets us get depressed so that we have a reason to stop! Is sin the only reason? No! I see this pamphlet as contradictory--It says that depression is a failure of self-control, then later says the feeling didn't necessarily originate with sin.
In addition, doing what you need to do does not automatically make depression go away. Depression is a complicated thing, and it can have roots in childhood and in hurts we suffered years before. Telling people to just get over it is, in my view, not only misguided but also harmful. Depressed people need help, not be put down.
I believe pamphlets like this are one of the reasons people outside Christianity think the church is out of touch with real, hurting people who need emotional first aid, not another kick when they're down. Deciding not to be depressed may work for a period of time, but if the root hurts are not healed by Christ, the problem will continue to resurface until they are.
@hollowhopes@xanga - I'm a Christian, and I don't agree with this post. I just wanted to let you know that we don't all think this.
@Pickwick12@xanga - I know. I've just had the most awful year when it comes to this type of thing and evangelical christians and sometimes my boiling point boils over. There's only so much stupidity and life-altering mindwashing bullshit I can stand to watch people take. The most incredible woman I knew was deeply religious...but she didn't force it upon people, prayed in private not obnoxiously preaching, and was KIND and gentle and overall just a beautiful soul. None of the people who post the fucking retarded posts on Revelife are those kind of people. They're just more of the same brainwashed retards like the people I lost a family member to...
But I'm going to delete my comments now and let people who believe this bullshit bumble in their bumbling ignorance and roll around in their own bullshit. I know where they're headed...the ground like everyone else. Whatever.
Depression can come from trauma or being put through hell by other people. I know this from experience. I never got depressed because I fell behind on something. Any time that I have gotten depressed was because of some past trauma or some crap that someone else was trying to feed me to make me feel like a screw up. It is also treatable with secular therapy and medication. The Bible may help some, but not everyone, especially those who read it and find out they're going to hell anyway because of blasphemy or something. I know there is a God. I just don't particularly believe in yours. I did for a while before I found out that I wouldn't be forgiven for blasphemy while I was psychotic. That doesn't make me want to hate myself though. It just makes me think he is not as forgiving as some people want us to believe, so as to gain money for their churches.
I want to re-title this pamphlet "Four Unhelpful Ways to Make a Depressed Christian Feel Even Worse".
@hollowhopes@xanga - I'm really sorry you've had negative experiences.
Haha, wow. I think that some people really do need to grow a pair of balls sometimes, and stop whining. But that doesn't diminish people who genuinely struggle with depression. It's a bit too general to say that most depression is directly linked to any sin.
I think some preachers are self-focused nitwits who have nothing to do with their time but trivialize others' struggles under the pretense of lifting them up spiritually.
@llamalima@xanga - This...
This is a sick post. I completely disagree with this post.
I so disagree with this statement, depression is a natural disorder and I personally do not think that depression is a sin that is rubbish..
Real people have daily trials. To not accept our daily difficulties is to not be a Christian, is to tell God that we know better.
I can't even bring myself to read it. I've heard this drivel opinion before. I have nothing nice to say about people that think it.
no, the chemical balance in my brain is not a sin. fuck this bullshit.
@intellectprofound@xanga - If someone told you you wouldn't be forgiven for something you did/said when you were psychotic, they were 100% wrong. It's completely your right not to believe, but I didn't want to pass by without saying that.
Since the Bible never addresses this issue, we are safe to take a look at what doctors tell us on this issue.
Clearly some depression is hereditary. The person was born with a tendency toward depression and it will form the backdrop of his/her life. Sometimes medication can help this problem. Other times, it can't. In the same way that sometimes medicine can help cancer but in other times it can't.
Other times depression comes about because of a severe trauma in the person's life. For example, a woman loses her only child.
In each of the above situations, the depression is not a sin. One is caused by something inside them and the other is caused by something outside them such as circumstances.
There is such a thing as doing something terribly wrong and it causing depression. For example, say a guy kills a person one day in the street. He might feel really bad and go into depression for his sin. His sin is not depression. Depression is what he feels for doing something wrong. In that situation, he might feel better if he prays and seeks forgiveness. But once again, the depression itself is not sin. But the depression is appropriate for doing something wrong. If a person experiences depression for doing something wrong, asking God for forgiveness may just make the person feel better.
I disagree with this! Sin is an action. Not a feeling.
Depression can be brought on for many reasons. While I do not doubt that God can and will heal people with depression, there is NOTHING wrong with getting medical help. Feelings are valid and should be addressed and dealt with not shamed because you have them.
Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Medical help is often necessary. In my husband's case hereditary and trauma that happened to him. Medicine helps regulate this imbalance. Counseling is helping deal with the trauma and feelings that he denied for years.
Depression? A sin?
So...making someone feel bad over something they can't always control is a sin too, right?
I bought a booklet called “How to Avoid Lawsuits When Providing Emotional Support to Others” and it is written by a Lawyer.
Jay A. Quine, Ph.D. writes,”It must be an act (or failure to act) which violates a known standard of care. These standards come from the particular industry (such as the Code of Ethics published by the American Association of Pastoral Counselors) or from an imposed standard from society’s sense of general reasonableness.”
You can be sued and an example would be the Catholic Church is expected to pay out about a billion dollars due to counseling. It is just an example. I bought this book at the Christian college where he taught and he spelled out in legal language that a jury is more willing to side with the victim than the person doing the counselling and the lawyer spelled out in legal language the different laws why you will be vulnerable for a lawsuit.
You are responsible for the person if they take your advice and you can be sued and since you don't have commercial insurance for counselling, you may find out what the consequences are because users can sue the ISP to find out your identity and then they can sue you.
Since when is an illness a sin? Does that mean cancer's a sin? And, diabetes, autism, and dyslexia are all sins too?
Depression, in my case, became a permanent thing (in a sense). I was in a horrible marriage for ten years and was depressed throughout most of it. My doctor explained that when a person stays depressed for a long time it can cause a chemical imbalance in the brain. This imbalance requires medication. Before I left christianity I tried treating it with religion and wanted to kill myself. I don't recommend that anyone else try it, either.
@xxGetWellSoonxx@xanga - @emilyfigureskates@xanga - @kamrandolph@xanga - @TheTheologiansCafe@xanga - @full_of_contradictions@xanga - @monobeam@xanga - @alexx87@xanga - @Mal_P@xanga - @llamalima@xanga - @NightCometh@xanga - @intellectprofound@xanga - @Pickwick12@xanga - @hollowhopes@xanga - @apb102088@xanga - Thank you all for posting! I am glad to hear all of you had a similar response as I did when I first read it. I am currently seeing a counselor for severe case of postpartum depression and so far everything we've talked about has been godly, super helpful, and convicting, in the best ways possible. But then she handed me this pamphlet on depression, which made me feel hurt, confused, and completely misunderstood. I think the pamphlet does make some good points, but truly oversimplifies the problems and blames sin for EVERY case of depression. It's just not that simple!
Thank you all. I just needed to make sure I wasn't crazy in thinking that this pamphlet sucks.
This article comes from here. http://www.peacemakers.net/unity/adepressed.htm
At the top is this:
"[BRIEF NOTE by PeaceMakers: Some depressions originate and/or are significantly impacted from what medical science claims is a chemical imbalance, disease, and/or injury in the brain, e.g. hormone imbalances as a result of pregnancies, giving birth or male/female menopause, diabetes, hypoglycemia, etc. "Medical" depressions may also be the physiological consequences from sin, e.g. anger, stress, fear and worry. There are times when medication {consult your doctor}and Biblical counseling are both required. Certainly caution is necessary that medication may mask/cover the spiritual issues. Jay Adams' materials are presented for the vast majority whose depression is from sin and whose healing is based in faith in Christ, responding biblically to life.] "
As you can tell by the above paragraph, anger, stress, fear and worry are called sin, and the author attempts to differentiate between medical causes of depression and their symptoms calling some symptoms sin. How they come to this conclusion is not stated, it's just bundled under the heading of 'spiritual issues'.
It's just trolling for depressed Christians plain and simple. I've known a lot of Christians who seem to buy anything that anyone says as long as the right buzz words are used and this (besides being snake oil) is just that.