Depression

Hi,

Depression is a hard thing to live with. Most people think depression is being upset about something that happened or didn't happen, but for those of us who suffer from it, it is way more than that. People see actors with money, children and others commit suicide and they don't understand it. They think if you are young or have money, you should not be sad or distraught about anything. But depression is not just about being sad or distraught. There is an intrinsic voice in depression that tells us life is not always worth living. We weigh out the positives and the negatives and sometimes the negatives win. When that happens, it becomes a struggle to find a reason to keep living.

When we get tired, our voice says it is time to rest. That may seem natural, except in depression, we may seek permanence in our rest. Yes, things will get better...and the bus is coming, but sometimes you get tired of waiting for the bus and decide to walk. We don't experience emotions like everyone else. For instance, I never feel worthless, but I often feel useless.

It is good to be in a place to help others to combat those feelings, but that is not always possible in life. Sometimes we are in need of help for ourselves. Depression is a strange beast. There is no box to fit it into...it does not look the same on each one of us and the solution is often hard to find. Most struggles will span the lifetime and telling your depressed love one to "do something about it," is probably not helpful. If they could do something, they would have done it....Besides that, the 'something' they choose to do might be suicide.

My suggestion is to make time to listen. One thing depressed people often feel is they are not significant enough for you to make time for them. Is that church meeting or school event more important than saving a life? Think about it...if you knew a person had a knife to their wrist when they called, would getting to the bank by 5:00 pm be that important? No, you don't know how serious the situation is, but we can all tell when someone needs to talk.. Take the time to live out the love of God, not just talk about it. Be there, even when it is a sacrifice and maybe you won't have to say goodbye too soon.

To those who love God and are called according to his purpose, don't get so caught up in the obligations of church and religion that you forget to live out the meaning of it all. The greatest work of Christ was the sacrifice.

But also know that if a person decides to leave this earth, he/she probably will, without warning. In that case, it was that person's choice. You could not prevent what you did not know was going to happen. Be there when you can and know you did your best. Accept the rest.