Defeating Depression And Suicidal Thoughts - Pt 01 - What Is Depression And How To Know If You're Depressed Series

Psychiatry students were in their college class one day when their professor began a discussion to prove a point. "What we’re going to talk about today," the professor said, "are the emotional extremes that many mentally disturbed people go through… for example

“What’s the opposite of joy?" he asked one student. "Sadness" the student answered.

"The opposite of depression?" he asked a young lady. "Elation," she replied.

Turning to a young man from Texas he asked "the opposite of woe?"

"Well, now, let me ponder on that a second" the Texan replied "I reckon the opposite of woe would be giddy up."

Satan does NOT like this message, yall. He messed with me every way he could including closing my Word document trying to cause my writing to be lost when I was writing it – LOLOLOL. That tells us up front that this is gonna help SOMEBODY.

So today we are starting a short series on Depression and Suicidal Thoughts and how to defeat them. We are going to talk a lot about depression and its causes, etc. and a lot about suicide statistics in this because although depression and suicide CAN be spiritual, they are not always spiritual and to overcome in an area, we need to have a strong understanding of what it is we are trying to overcome.

A LOT of people are feeling depressed now and even having suicidal thoughts due to the restrictions the pandemic has placed on us. In fact, the CDC says that 25% of young adults from 18-24 actually considered suicide in June of this year!! Interestingly, older adults reported LESS anxiety and depression at the same time young adults anxiety and depression skyrocketed.

An article at kxan.com states:

The rates of those reported having seriously considered suicide in the 30 days before the June CDC survey are higher among those between ages 18-24 (25.5%), essential workers (21.7%), and minority racial/ethnic groups (18.6% Hispanic, 15.1% non-Hispanic Black).

Another population of concern are the elderly, many of whom find themselves in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities, nation and statewide.

Suicides are already scary high among the military and Veteran populations, and have been steadily rising among teenagers and even CHILDREN due to bullying.

Depression has always been an issue for mankind, and we see examples of it in the Bible. I want to talk about depression and suicidal thoughts today because someone requested I do a podcast on this subject and also because suicide rates are increasing – probably due to the pandemic, to so much job loss and to social isolation. So let’s talk about this because this is a serious subject and it is something we see others going through in the Bible. If you are suffering from depression, you are not alone. Thousands upon thousands of other people are going through that black cloud of hopelessness right now.

Many years ago a young mid western lawyer suffered from such deep depression that his friends thought it best to keep all knives and razors out of his reach. He questioned his life’s calling and the wisdom of even attempting to follow it through. During this time he wrote, "I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell." That lawyer was Abraham Lincoln who became our 16th President.

1. Do we have a Depression Problem in the U.S.?

Hope for Depression.org says – and I quote:

I LOVE the statement on their site: HDRF chooses not to use the term “mental illness” to refer to disorders of the mind and brain. The term conjures up negative images in the popular imagination, propagates stigma, and is not scientifically accurate. Therefore, at HDRF we always refer to this area as “mind-brain illness.”

Depression in the United States…

• Affects over 18 million adults (one in ten) in any given year.3

• Is the leading cause of disability for ages 15-44.4

• Is the primary reason why someone dies of suicide about every 12 minutes. – over 41,000 people a year.5

Did you hear that?? ONE IN TEN people in the U.S. suffer from depression every year. We would never have guessed that number was so high, would we? When we look around, we don’t see that many sad people. I would be willing to bet the number is actually a lot higher because there are so many who are ashamed or embarrassed to get help for it. And I’ll tell you a secret – when people commit suicide, it isn’t so much they don’t want to live as they don’t want to live the life they are living.

2. What is depression exactly?

Well, Webster’s defines depression as: : a mood disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies.