Depression

     This is the era of depression. Every era has been. There are two types of depression: major depressive disorder and mood depression. My experience is with the latter. Mood depression is a normal response to life whereas major depressive disorder may be genetic and is more invasive, prolonged, and may result in psychosis. The cause of major depressive disorder (MDD) is not entirely known but it seems to be of a clinical nature as medicinal treatment is the most effective.
     My own mother suffered from MDD for several years. Although genetics cannot be disproven, I believe life events coincided with her depression. Mom had many! Her  beloved Pappy died at a young age, then her favorite nephew was sliced to ;pieces in a wreck. After that Mom could barely cope. A genogram is a method of examining the interconnection between life events and psychosis. Mom's MDD was to the extent that she merely stared off into space for long periods of time. She never hated herself nor had low self-esteem. She merely was apathetic to life!
     The major life events which seemed to trigger Mom's depression were two occurring in a relatively short timespan: (1) She learned something severe from long ago which hurt her tremendously, and (2) her grandson who had been with her daily was removed from her care by his mother. People can handle one extreme negative life-event at a time but when another and another keeps piling on, life becomes calamitous. Thus, it may be that mood depression is reaction to deleterious events but MDD may come from compounded events with little relief in between.
     When events happen which upset the psychological "apple-cart" it takes time to heal. When there is not enough healing time in between deleterious life events, abnormal behavior becomes the norm for the afflicted. Rather than having emotional peaks and valleys, those with MDD have mostly valleys. Those extended valleys are "depression" and are rightfully named.
     People have different temperaments. Abraham Lincoln was melancholic, for instance. Temperaments are factors which have an influence on personality types. Temperaments are how people are inclined to respond emotionally to life events. Those with melancholia seem to be predisposed to moroseness. Joy seems to be elusive. If one examines Lincoln's loss of his children and the depression of his wife, he seemed to have reason to be melancholic. Add to that, the unexpected severity and unnecessary deaths coming from the Civil War, and indeed, even the most content would become morose.
     I'm proposing that MDD is more behavioral than genetic or biological. If one wonders why the depression, life events must be examined. Of course, life events can't be undone but how they are viewed can be.
     I had three simultaneous deleterious life events in 2008: (1) the economic recession in which I lost most of my 401k, (2) an unexpected unresolved court case in which I lost many thousands of dollars, and (3) my own retirement. Those three climaxed in the same week, and I became quite depressed to the extent of physical illness. For the first and last time in my life (hopefully), I could not handle this deep and endless valley by myself. Fortunately, there was medicine that could help me tolerate the pain but the medicine merely placated the symptoms. The "problems" were still there. No one can "fix" psychological abnormalities. They can only be masked or overcome. Psychologists can mask and the person can overcome.
     Until I could get a handle on me, the prescribed pill masked the negative life events. However, even with the pills, the problems were still there. I had to learn how to live with the problems. One thing which always helped me with depression is knowing that I was not the first nor the greatest to be depressed. For mood depression, I had often turned to the Book of Ecclesiastes. King Solomon, the wisest and perhaps the richest man on earth had everything but he was still depressed! "Things" mean little because we all must face death. Negative life events are much like death. There is a dread that things will not ever be as they once were. With my compounded pecuniary losses, I had resolved that in retirement I would be distraught. I failed to trust God to take care of me!
     God doesn't promise riches but he does take care of us, and prevents Christians from having more than they can handle. Satan's emissaries gave me much to handle. I was another "Job" who they were discouraging. Job made it through the loss of family members, land, animals, and money but still trusted God. In the end, God took care of Job who never ceased to trust  in God!
     My losses were financial in nature as many are. I still had my family, house, car, and even luxuries. What was I so stressed about? I was thinking irrationally! I was born with nothing into a family with next to nothing. At that point in life even with all my losses, I was still wealthy compared to the world. Rather than thanking God for my prosperity, I was into myself because of a loss of some of it. I was "awful-izing". I believe a negative disposition is sinful. My negativity was failure to trust God. To get "fixed", all I had to do was pray and trust God. I did that and he fixed me. God took care of me!
     As a Christian, I know that I don't deserve eternal life! Sometimes I become depressed because I fear death. I know I deserve Hell, and fear that's where I will go. I sometimes think that I am not good enough for God. I am not! God takes care of Christians, none of who are "good" enough for Heaven. That is called "grace". Because of God's grace, I can face tomorrow, as the old song goes! God fixes depression. There is nothing He can't fix! Job surely had MDD. In spite of all the calamity, God fixed Job and he can fix us. With a little faith we can move mountains. With only a small amount of faith, God moved me from the valley to the mountain top!
     My problem wasn't really the money. I believe the sub-conscious contributor to my depression was knowing that I should depend on God more. Look to whom I first turned - the doctor. It never entered my mind to seek help from God, I only thought of the pill which could fix things. When the pills are gone, the problem is still there and so is God. The pill made me feel better but God fixed me when I finally came to Him. I was never rich but was always prosperous. Now I am content with what I have because God took care of me!
     Throughout my life I never spent money on things for me. I did for my family. I was happy but some of them were not. Money does not provide happiness. In fact, avarice is the root of all evil. Everyone should be content with having their needs met. Luxuries in these days are taken for granted. Americans take things for granted, and I was one of them. Where all of us are heading, there is no use for money. I was just getting a head start!
     Jesus heals. That is why God came down - to heal the nations. He never promised prosperity but eternal life. The Abrahamic Covenant was God's promise of a Healer for the nations. Prosperity was given for those who depended on Jesus. That prosperity was mostly not the tangible but the intangible. Spiritual life is contentment and spiritual prosperity is joy. God lifts the depressed from depression to hopefulness. Jesus said, "You must be born-again" (John 3:7). We must quit taking care that or snakes don't bite, and lift God up and the venoms won't kill us. Only when people look down at the problems and try to step around them, will the depressive snakes bite. If we lift God up and look to Him, God will take care of those depressive snakes.
     Remember, the physician cannot heal himself; how could he heal us? God will take care of you. Let the Great Physician do His healing.