depressionDepression is a complicated issue. Many factor leads to depression:  extreme anxiety, loss of faith, major upheavals in life such as divorce, death, loss of a job, illness.  These churn together to create the bleak feeling, the lack of faith and suffering that blankets the believer in the feeling called “depression.”

While the Bible does not specifically mention the word “depression,” many sections deal with suffering and anxiety. We are told to cast our cares on the Lord, but like the Psalmist, “out of the depths I cry unto you, O Lord!”  When people are suffering from depression, they feel like they are in the depths themselves, crying out for help.

What Is Depression?

Depression is often described as darkness, when the whole world seems bleak and cheerless. Often, the seeds of depression are planted early in life. We may be prone to depression, or born with traits that lead to depression, or we may find ourselves facing situations beyond our control early in life that results in maladaptive responses.  The end result is sinking into depression ranging from melancholia, or brief bouts of cheerlessness, to full-blown despair.

Help is available for depression. First, recognize that you are not alone. The Lord is always with you; there are others in your life that care, too.

Letting Light Into the Darkness

If you can picture depression like a dark room, what can brighten it? Letting light into the darkness. Light can take many forms.

Christian counseling is like opening the blinds or shades to let light into the darkness. Through counseling, we explore the reasons for depression. Through prayer, we open the shades to let light into the darkness. Over time, light fades the darkness through therapy, prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Seeking Help for Depression

Christians often hesitate to seek help for depression. We are told we should be joyful people because we have the love of the Lord in our lives. It’s confusing to be depressed when intellectually, we know the promises that God has made to us. We believe in those promises, yet we find ourselves feeling anxious, sad and overwhelmed.

Seeking help for depression isn’t a sign of weakness or of weak faith. Rather, it is a sign of strength. Christian counseling offers hope to the hopeless, and help for depression. Through discussion and prayer, a Christ-center approach to depression can lift the darkness and let the light of Christ shine in.

You don’t have to suffer alone or live with any form of depression. Call Home Heart Counseling and Dr. Douglas Frey today for an appointment.  Christian counseling can help. Christian counseling combines the healing power of prayer and belief with the wisdom of traditional therapy.  Dr. Douglas Frey of Home Heart Counseling offers services for individuals and couples seeking help with their problems. Please call 952-920-2789 for an appointment.