Christians Get Depressed Too - Chapter One

Welcome to my Book Talk, where we hope to "meet" every Thursday for the next month to read, review, and hopefully discuss the following book:

I hope you were able to order the book and receive it in time. And if you did not order the book, I hope that my reviews on each chapter will give you a good idea as to what the author, David Murray, is trying to get across to his readers. I hope you all are brave enough to comment as well, as we can all learn so much from each other.

On we go!! The set up will be:

Summary of Chapter
My Thoughts
Your Thoughts
Prayer Points
Next Time

Summary
Starting in the Preface, David Murray explains why he wrote this little yet promising book. His choice of title "Christians Get Depressed Too" was to deal with the lie and belief that Christians just don't (and shouldn't) get depressed. Murray describes his book as an emergency guide, using 6 chapters to "explain the condition, the causes, and the cures for both the sufferers and caregivers." He also includes an Appendix on the sufficiency of the Scriptures.

Chapter One: The Crisis:
Not wasting any words, Murray delves right away into the 'why' we need to study this topic, depression (and depression-anxiety), giving 8 reasons:

1. Because the Bible Speaks about It - not only does the Bible play an important role in the treatment of depression/anxiety, there are many examples in there of others who seem to be down in that dark deep pit of depression. We think of Hannah, Job, and various psalmists.
2. Because it is So Common - "studies show that 5.8 per cent of men and 9.5 per cent of women will experience depressive episode in any given year". "An estimated 121 million people worldwide suffer from depression"
3. Because it Impacts our Spiritual Life - we are made up of body and soul, but those two are linked and overlapped by our thoughts and feelings. When one of those suffer (body, soul, thoughts, feelings), it will affect the other 3, which impacts our spiritual life, often leaving one with false guilt, and feelings of worthlessness
4. Because it May Be Prevented or Mitigated - while many are genetically disposed to have depression, others can also suffer from it as well. Having helpful techniques/strategies can be very useful in preventing, mitigating or shortening the illness, even if that includes medication, which does *not* mean that is a rejection of God and His grace!
5. Because it Will Open Doors of Usefulness - understanding depression will help us to more sympathetic and useful to those who suffer; learning that to listen the most and speak the least is being most useful to the sufferer
6. Because it is So Misunderstood - terrible stigmas attached, misunderstandings of its causes, symptoms and possible cures available, due to it being such an invisible disease (no scan will be able to find it like it can find cancer)
7. Because it is a Talent to be Invested for God - God often uses broken people to bring others to Him
8. Because We All Can Improve our Mental and Emotional Health - while many of us are not disabled by depression, there are many that experience long-term, low-level depression/anxiety. Learning some strategies that will improve our mental and emotional health is beneficial to all of us.

My Thoughts
The one reason Murray gives that resonates with me is Reason #3. I think I underlined pretty much that whole point! I think that Murray has this one dead on - that body and soul are linked and overlapped by two elements: thoughts and feelings. And I do believe that, in my case anyway, it is such a domino affect. If I get just a simple cold (body), this can result in many unwelcomed feelings (frustration, impatience)  and thoughts (why am I sick now?! I can't be sick now! I sure don't enjoy my days being sick!), which then affects my spiritual walk of life. And that's just with a common flu bug! Those who suffer with more put me to shame.

Murray gives 8 very good reasons why we should learn more about depression, and I hope more of us will become educated on this topic, so that we may be a hand and foot to each other in the Body of Christ.

Your Thoughts
Do any of the reasons strike you? Has Murray missed any reasons? Do you have a reason that he did not write about as to why we should know more about depression/anxiety? Can you think of more examples in the Bible of those who were struggling (that Murray doesn't mention)?

Prayer Points

• thankful for authors like David Murray, who will tackle this topic with the Bible open
• thankful for the Psalms
• for all those who suffer varying degrees of depression/anxiety
• for wisdom to be able to know when to just listen and keep my mouth shut
• for the ability to stop judging
• for God's grace, mercy and love in never letting us go while we are in those darkest moments

Next Time
"In the next chapter, we will consider the attitude and spirit in which we should study depression." pg. 10