Depression: The Stubborn Darkness

I. Introduction -

A. How it feels

Robert Burton (1621) The Anatomy of Melancholy, “They are in great pain and horror of mind, distraction of soul, restlessness, full of continual fears, cares, torment, anxieties, they can neither drink, eat, nor sleep...

Charles Spurgeon, at age 24, “My spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for.”  It came again and again, “Causeless depression cannot be reasoned with, nor can David’s harp charm it away by sweet discoursings.  As well fight with the mist as with this shapeless, indefinable, yet all-beclouding hopelessness... The iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in gloomy prison, needs a heavenly hand to push it back...”  Lectures to My Students (Zondervan, 1972), p. 24.

B. How it is defined

depressed mood
diminished pleasure, apathy - feel nothing, and you remember when you did.
weight loss or weight gain
insomnia or hypersomnia
physical restlessness or lethargy
diminished ability to think or concentrate
suicidal ideation


II. Depression as Suffering

Basic Idea: Depression is a form of suffering that can’t be reduced to one universal cause.  This means that family and friends can’t rush in armed with THE answer.  Instead, they must be willing to postpone swearing allegiance to a particular theory, know the depressed person and work together with him or her.  What we do know is that depression is painful and, if you have never experienced it, hard to understand.  Like most forms of suffering, it feels private and isolating.
We also know that those who feel overwhelmed by depression share in fundamental humanness.  In other words, at root you will find the struggles and maladies that are common to us all.  Don’t let the technical, scientific diagnosis keep you from seeing these ordinary problems. Instead, when in doubt, expect to find ordinary humanness lurking just below the surface in the form of fear, anger, guilt, shame, jealousy, wants, despair over loss, physical weaknesses and other problems that are resident in every human person. 

A. Suffering


B. The Surprising God


C. Crying out


D. Warfare


E. Remembering


F. Purpose


G. Perseverance


III.  Listening to Depression

A. Depression has its reasons: Other people, Adam, Satan, culture


Outside events
Things outside our control
Things that come at us
     
Internal beliefs
Interpretations of events
Things we can change
Things that come out of us

The Development of Depression


B. The heart of depression


C. Fear



D. Anger


E. Dashed hopes


F. Failure/pride


G. Guilt/legalism/pride


H. Death, suicidal thinking



IV.  Other Helps and Treatments

A. Medical treatments



B. Families and friends



V.  Hope and Joy

20. Humility and hope



21. Thankfulness and joy

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