Misconceptions Your Church May Have About Depression

Why would God want you to take antidepressants? 

If mental illness is real, it would be in the Bible.

You should pray your way out of the depression and anxiety. Don’t rely on medication.

God is testing you. You must have faith.

Suffering is part of being a Christian.

There is no magic pill. Work out your depression “in fear and trembling.”

Psychotropics are of the Devil.

Confused About Depression

Do you lean into this type of thinking easily? Are you tempted to side with the voices from the church that diminish the reality of mental illness?

It can be hard to see the misconceptions and distinguish the truth about depression and mental illness in Christianity. If mental illness is such a thing, you would wonder why it’s now beginning to be talked about and why this issue wasn’t addressed in past decades.

The short answer to that is, it was taboo. It didn’t fit into most church’s and pastor’s theology. You couldn’t talk about it because those who had mood disorders were not in communion with the body (and therefore skipped church). The most dysfunctional church members had spurts of productivity in the church. People had it and didn’t talk about it out of fear of stigma and shame. People had it and kept quiet because they assumed it wasn’t normal or relevant.

Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder are two of the most common mental illness diagnoses I came across in case management. If the general population struggles with these things at the rate they do, the church isn’t some kind of wonder land where converts and attendees magically become whole on a Sunday morning church pew. They’d like to fake it to make it look that way, but in reality, our brokenness still seeps through the christening of grace as Christians.

The confusion comes in when we are ignorant of the grace of science and medicine, thinking there’s no place for it in our knowledge of God and the Bible. We panic and assign the dysfunction to a lack of holiness, a personal failure or shortcoming, a sin, or worse – demonic influence. The Bible left out a lot of things if it doesn’t mention mental illness, heck, dinosaurs aren’t in there.

But does the Bible actually leave it out?

Biblical Reasoning for Mental Illness’s Credibility

Psalms. King David’s lamentations and anxieties . King Nebuchadnezzar’s dramatic animalistic behavior. Samson’s wildly manipulative nature (Borderline Personality, anyone?)

What about the illnesses that Jesus healed that aren’t specifically mentioned? We can assume they are all physical, but does it say exclusively they were all physical infirmities?

God supplies and provides in numerous ways – so those who can pray their way out of depression, God bless you. I’ll give you that. Those who continue struggling with the lies of the enemy and wallow in their misery, you may have a tendency to think only about yourself and your woes. Consider praying and yes, do petition the Father for provision and answers.

If it’s a sin that is keeping you from loving Him with all your heart, do repent.

But if that depression and anxiety is plaguing you and you’re at a loss for the next step, wait on the Lord. What? Yes, what I said – wait on the Lord…AND, actively pursue wisdom from a counselor, and physician. The fight can get too much to handle on your own, and God can give you endurance….BUT, don’t turn your nose up at considering antidepressants or counseling. God gave us medicine for a reason. Thank God He allows us to have medicine for the illnesses that impair our functioning.

The Difference Between Suffering and Misery

Just as I tell others that to “choose joy” isn’t as easy as it sounds, there is a time to suffer and a time for joy. But to suffer under the weight of a medical, clinical and might I even add Biblical depression/mental illness, is something different than suffering for the sake of getting closer to God and bringing others closer to Him.

Suffering and misery are two different things. Suffering for Christ’s sake is persecution as a byproduct of obedience and spreading the gospel. Misery in the more familiar form of mental illness is a sickness that costs a person’s sanity or well-being. It is dangerous to assume the two are the same.

They can both draw me closer to Jesus, and I can suffer for being obedient to Him in my mental illness and misery. I can find my Great Physician working through both. But to regard a mental illness as something spiritually-rooted is not the whole picture. The emotional is not the spiritual, just as the physical is not the spiritual.

The world is keen on the fight against stigma. Church, let’s wake up and stop pretending. Our work is to take the gospel and proclaim it to all…a cup of water for the least of these, yes. In Christ we are saved alone. Period.

But let’s be sure to care for those in the many ways and gifts and talents God has given us. Let us encourage those struggling in depression to find answers and get the help they need. There’s a shortage of good psychiatrists and counselors out there. Let’s pray that God provides more, and raises up a generation of compassionate men and women ready to take the gospel to the psych hospital as a psychiatrist or med tech.

That is proclaiming the gospel – being the hands and feet and mouthpiece of Jesus. I pray that the church begins to take the lead and have compassion and knowledge to drive this movement. Because that’s Biblical. That is the spirit our Father has given us… “not of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

Remember, He is not a God of confusion.