“you may have questions about whether Christians should take this or that. You get in that state, I assure you, you will take rat dung.” Pastor Tommy Nelson
Why the Stigma?
Let me start this post by saying this. When it comes to the issue of taking medication for depression…there are some Christians who believe in it, and those that do not.
I believe in them. And I’m not trying to convince you otherwise. That will require circumstances, experiences convincing beyond my control.
I have worked long enough in the ministry and therapeutic setting to see the amazing and beneficial results that they have had in the lives of the co-workers, students and clients that I have journeyed through life with.
I believe God has given scientists/doctors/researchers amazing minds to create some medications that can help.
As one friend says, “If someone is diabetic, they are going to take insulin…aren’t they?”
Or I tell my friends, “If you have a heart condition, you are going to the cardiologist, right?”
So what’s the stigma around mental health and medications in the Christian life? I’m not completely sure. There is some disconnect it seems. Or rather than disconnect, there is some inconsistency in how we pick and choose what areas of our lives we seek help on, and what areas we think we should be able to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps.
If God has gifted a researcher who can create helpful drugs, or a psychiatrist that can prescribe medications, why not seek their help?
If God has gifted general practitioners and therapists to walk along side of us in rough times, why not seek their help?
I’ve heard some people say to others who are deep in depression that they just need to read their Bibles more, or pray harder, or have better quiet times, or stop sinning. THAT HAS GOT TO STOP! Would you tell a cancer patient they should just pray harder, seek God more truthfully, and stop sinning? No, you would tell them to go see an oncologist and get into some chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment. At least I hope you would.
In the great book Depression and Hope: New Insights for Pastoral Counseling by Howard W. Stone, I think Stone does a great job of seeing why people hold views on both sides… but ultimately leads us back to why medication in the area of mental health should not be an issue for Christians. Stone says:
“Peter Breggin and Ginger Breggin, who are somewhat critical of the use of medications for the treatment of depression, believe that such drugs give people a message that they lack the ‘psychological or spiritual resources to triumph over [their] depression’ (1994, 200). Popping a pill to address spiritual desolation or taking medications to soothe ‘Anfechtungen’ certainly would avoid facing one’s spiritual struggles or wrestling with one’s faith. But the spiritual side of human beings is not separate from the physical side. If medication were available to ease severe back pain without making someone fuzzy-headed, it would make sense to use it–even if the severe pain could potentially be an avenue for deepening in the faith. If medications can help one to greet the day, to be more faithful followers of the Christ, to be more responsible in the day-to-day ministry to which each of us is called, then it seems to me that such medications are worthwhile. Drugs are no way to escape our demons, but they may help us meet our demons with clearer heads and lighter hearts” (pp. 101).
Dealing With It Firsthand
Until we have struggled with depression ourselves, helped someone walk through that season, or been in a relationship or family where someone struggles with it, then the reality is often far removed from one’s true understanding of just exactly how serious it can be. Instead, we play Monday morning, armchair quarterback, and give abstract principles, or methods of coping that don’t seriously get at the heart of the issue.
What I have come to believe is that those Christians who think we should not take medications for mental health issues will truly never “get it”, unless it strikes close to home.
And apparently it did for Pastor Tommy Nelson of Denton Bible Church.
Otherwise, what would move a man to speak on depression in abstract terms and talk about the importance of busy schedules in February of 2005, to talk about the devastation of depression in his own life and how medications helped save his life in March of 2007?
What person speaks adamantly against medications in 2005, but praise their benefit only two years later? I don’t know Tommy personally, but I would say experience…the realities of depression were no longer abstract thoughts from people sitting across from him, but hit close to home, devastating his life for a long period of time.
If you have time, listen to both chapel talks and look at the difference. If you don’t have time, just watch the second one. You will be hard pressed to find a more intimate and powerful look on how depression took over someone’s life in paralyzing ways.
A Descent Into Depression by Pastor Tommy Nelson. This was on February 15, 2005.
A Christian Looks at Depression: Pastor Tommy Nelson at Dallas Theological Seminary’s Chapel. This was on March 27, 2007.
Cast Down
“Fits of depression come over the most of us. Cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy.” Charles Hadden Spurgeon from his sermon entitled, ‘When the Preacher is Downcast’. (HT: Necessary Therapy for the quote.)
I agree with Spurgeon, that at times in our lives we are “cast down.” Whether that strikes someone with clinical depression or another with several days of melancholy, I think it’s important for us to acknowledge that it is real. And since it is real, we should use the avenues and resources available to us, whether that be in the form of medications, psychiatrists, therapy, etc.
What do you think about Christians taking medications for depression or mental health related issues?
Why are you against it? Why are you for it?
Do you have a personal story/experience to share about your own struggle with depression and how medications may have helped you?
Check out DJ Chuang’s amazing and honest post, Deconstructing Depression. Totally worth your time.
Disclaimer: This blog post is not to be a substitute for professional help or advice. Please consider seeking out professional help if you consider yourself to be at risk for depression.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for your attention to this vital issue. I am currently recovering from ECT, drawing on the strength of faith, particularly the faith of a wide range of Biblical poets and prophets who battled depression with “the full armor of God” and, more often than not, came out on top.
Thanks also for the mention of my blog “Necessary Therapy”. Though my number of recent postings has been low, my posts tend to not be time-sensitive, so I encourage your readers to log on, look around, and have fun.
Thanks again and God bless.
P.S. I really enjoy your site. I hope to add it to my “Referrals (a.k.a. “Blogroll”) when I’m able to spend more thought time on this new-fangled contraption called a computer.
I just read a book by Francis Frangipane that covered this same passage of text mentioned in the first video, its called, The Stronghold of God
I have been a pastor for 15 years and have been on antidepressants as I have battled depression in my past. I personally took Zoloft (100mgs/day) which seemed high compared to some other people that i found out were on it. A chemical imbalance is a chemical imbalance and for me, once the imbalance was brought back to center, I have not had to take them again. I carried around a couple of panic packs when I was weened off of them… I have to tell you that I was like many others who just decide that they are fine and take themselves off of the medication…boy did I crash…hard. Didn’t intend for this comment to be so long but just wanted to chime in…I actually crashed after going to Metro 1 night when Tommy Nelson was teaching…through James..ironic that posted his video- I have so much to add from a personal place with this subject and the way i tackled it mentally, physically, emotionally, and physiologically.
not physiologically….meant psychological
Thanks, Rhett.
I think that we need to be talking about this more and more in the faith sphere. There’s no getting around depression in the world or the church. We all struggle with what it is to be human. If you speak to the people in your fellowship, suprisingly few are not dealing with grief, depression, anxiety in some form or severity. It’s just real.
After reading Galatians, I’m convinced that if Paul were alive today, we’d find him “on the sofa” four times a week getting his scrips readjusted.
It’s probably time for the benefits of mental science to make it to the pulpit: “Every good and perfect gift…”
Depression took me down hard. Looking back, I wish that I had known about medications. I wish that I had known enough about depression to realize I was in it.
Rhett, thank you for this and the interviews with Anne Jackson. I know they will be helpful in people “getting it”.
@pistol pete, thanks for sharing. came across your site when looking up that quote from Spurgeon. I will definitely be back and see all that you have written about. Thanks for sharing your experience with us on your blog and in this post.
@clayton coates, hey first of all, it has been really great to meet you here recently. thanks for being so honest and sharing your thoughts with us here. I would love to connect sometime over coffee and hear more about your journey. thanks for being transparent.
@chris, thanks for sharing. I got a laugh on your comment about Paul. I’ve heard many a therapist diagnose Paul as depressed or at least anxiety driven, etc, etc. Interesting guy. Thanks for sharing your story with us, and I think you are right..we need to talk about this issue more and more in the faith sphere.
@sovann, you are welcome…I hope more people “get it.”
rhett
i have an assigment about the christian’s view to medication. Could anyone help me to show me what is all about..?
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