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.
3. How do you know if you’re depressed?
The Symptoms of Depression according to Mayo Clinic.org are and I quote:
• Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
• Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
• Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports
• Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much
• Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
• Reduced appetite and weight loss or increased cravings for food and weight gain
• Anxiety, agitation or restlessness
• Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame
• Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
• Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide
• Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches
4. Depression is not just a problem for adults – Its a big problem among TEENS
Pew Research.org states – and I quote:
One-in-five teenage girls – or nearly 2.4 million – had experienced at least one major depressive episode (the proxy measure of depression used in this analysis) over the past year in 2017. By comparison, 7% of teenage boys (or 845,000) had at least one major depressive episode in the past 12 months.
The total number of teenagers who recently experienced depression increased 59% between 2007 and 2017. The rate of growth was faster for teen girls (66%) than for boys (44%).
Prp.jasonfoundation.com states and I quote:
Youth Suicide Statistics
o Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for ages 10-24. (2018 CDC WISQARS)
o Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for college-age youth and ages 12-18. (2018 CDC WISQARS)
o More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, COMBINED.
o Each day in our nation, there are an average of over 3,703 attempts by young people grades 9-12. If these percentages are additionally applied to grades 7 & 8, the numbers would be higher.
o Four out of Five teens who attempt suicide have given clear warning signs
o The Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System (YRBS) is a survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that includes national, state, and local school-based representative samples of 9th through 12th grade students. The purpose is to monitor priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth in the United States.
I would be remiss if I did not also tell you what the warning signs are in teens – here, from the same site, prp.jasonfoundation.com – from their list:
Four out of five completed suicides give clear warning signs of their intentions. This means that, if we learn the signs and know how to respond, we have an opportunity to assist 80% of those teens who are contemplating suicide.
Many times, signs of concern mimic “typical teenage behaviors”. So, how can we know if it’s just “being a teenager” or something more? If the signs are persisting over a period of time, several of the signs appear at the same time, and the behavior is “out of character” for the young person as you know him/her, then close attention is warranted.
The following are some signs of concern that you may see. This is, by no means, all of the signs. Anytime you have a concern about a young person’s actions and/or behaviors, be proactive – have a conversation with the child. Seek professional help, if necessary.
Suicide Threats: Either Direct or Indirect Statements
People who talk about suicide, threaten suicide or call suicide crisis lines are 30 times more likely than average to kill themselves. Take suicide threats seriously.
o “I’d be better off dead.”
o “I won’t be bothering you much longer.”
o ”You’ll be better off without me around.”
o “I hate my life.”
o “I am going to kill myself.”
o Suicide threats are not always verbal.
• Text messages
• Social networks
Previous Suicide Attempts
o One out of three suicide deaths is not the individual’s first attempt.
o The risk for completing suicide is more than 100 times greater during the first year after an attempt.
o Take any instance of deliberate self-harm seriously.
You can read more on their website. Suicide is nothing to play around with. Suicide is a spirit that works very quickly and the results are irreversible so we need to know what we are dealing with.
My purpose is doing these teachings is to help you understand the causes and signs of impending suicide so you are armed against it.
You know, King David suffered with depression.
King David.
In Psalms, David writes of his anguish, loneliness, fear of the enemy, his heart-cry over sin, and the guilt he struggled with because of it. We also see his huge grief in the loss of his sons in 2 Samuel 12:15-23 and 2 Samuel 12:18-33. In other places.
5. Depression Can Be a Physical Issue – Chemical Imbalances
Depression can be a physical issue where there is a chemical imbalance in the brain. There are several chemicals including serotonin and dopamine believed to regulate moods at the brain level. If any of these are out of balance, moods are not properly regulated and abnormal highs and lows result.
6. Depression CAN BE a Spiritual Issue
Depression can be a spiritual issue requiring deliverance.
There is a demon of depression that comes in when we entertain thoughts of depression and don’t cast them down and refuse them, though depression is NOT ALWAYS a spiritual issue.
The Demon of Depression holds the door open for the Demon that brings suicidal thoughts to come in. Murder and Suicide are basically the same act and COULD BE committed by the same demon. Homicide is the taking of another’s life. Suicide is the taking of your own. This is why you often hear of murder/suicides on the news. Homicide is murder acting outwardly and Suicide is murder acting inwardly and killing its host.
Demons are spirits and spirits transfer from host to host. If you look closely at suicides you will see that suicide often starts a chain reaction among a group of people. This is because the demon, once it has killed its host, will jump to someone nearby and start working on them. I have seen numerous cases where this happened. I once saw a family where three members committed suicide, one after another. In a town I lived in for years, a well known person in the community committed suicide, and then others in that community also did. A teenager at school committed suicide, then two more did. I believe when we see this we are witnessing that spirit transferring to one host after another. It also may be partially that when one person does it, the taboo is a little less frightening for the others. Almost like a stamp of approval from a peer. But we should not view any suicide as a stamp of approval. We should view it as a person in tremendous anguish who lost all hope of going on. Because that’s what it is.
7. What causes depression?
There are many conditions and events that can trigger depression in a person from dashed hopes to financial struggles to things we are dealing with now, during this Covid-19 pandemic like lack of physical touch. An article in the NY Times On October 6th (2020) said this and I quote:
Some people have gone many months without touch: It was one of the first things we were cautioned against, even before social distancing, masks and stay-at-home orders became the new normal. And eventually, its absence can give way to touch deprivation, which can lead to health issues like anxiety and depression, according to Tiffany Field, the director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami, who has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology.
• Sometimes it is a negative situation you feel hopeless about
• Sometimes it is the loss of a person or thing that you drew comfort or joy from that should have come from the Lord
• A physical impediment
• Grief over a loss
• The loss of a beloved pet
• Addiction – again a situation that feels hopeless to the person who is addicted
• Being the victim of abuse or bullying
• Fear of the future
• They feel they are a burden to others
• They are burdened with regret over something they did that they cannot change like Judas after he led the authorities to Jesus
o a BIG change you’re having trouble adjusting to
o Loss of a close loved one
o Move where your ALL ALONE!
o Empty nest syndrome
o Marriage of a kid
o Infidelity or abandonment of a spouse
o Jeremiah sobbed over the loss of his homeland
8. The Taboo
There is a taboo on suffering from depression especially in Christian circles. The belief is that if you have Jesus, then you should never be depressed but you know what? Jesus suffered sadness Himself. He wept when he saw the lack of faith before He raised Lazarus from the dead. He was sad in the Garden of Gethsemane. I believe He was sad on the Cross as He saw the hardness of men’s hearts and also as He saw the grief of His mother and the disciples.
9. Circumstantial Depression
Depression can be circumstantial, meaning some terrible event has happened to bring grief and sadness.
Job suffered with Circumstantial Depression
Job.
Job lost ten children and all his wealth in a single day. If those aren’t grounds for circumstantial depression, I don’t know what would be, yall. The loss of ONE child would be enough to make you wish you were dead! The loss of his wealth equates with the loss of his way of life which would compound his grief as now he has to adjust to living a completely different way. Job obviously didn’t worship wealth, he was just blessed because he lived godly.
Though Job maintained his faithfulness to God throughout his life, he still struggled deeply through the pain and grief of those losses:
“Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not [a]perish when I came from the womb? - Job 3:11
“I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”- Job 3:26
“My soul loathes my life;
I will [a]give free course to my complaint,
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. - Job 10:1
“15 Terrors are turned upon me;
They pursue my honor as the wind,
And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16 “And now my soul is poured out because of my plight;
The days of affliction take hold of me.
17 My bones are pierced in me at night,
And my gnawing pains take no rest. - Job 30:15-17
And let me just say that I suffered with depression from the time I was a young adult. when I was younger, was diagnosed with a chemical imbalance when I was I think 19 and occasionally – usually every several years or so, would have to take medication for several months to get better for it. I no longer have it and have not needed medication since 2003 when I worked for two tyrants in a row and two close relatives died only 2 months apart – that was a dark, dark time and the grief was just constant. Now I COULD have just suffered through that and not taken the medication. And I could have ended up committing suicide because I let it go.
The depression I suffered with was also complicated by PTSD from an event in my marriage in my twenties that caused debilitating flashbacks. God has healed me of PTSD and I no longer have those, as of 1998. And I am so grateful to Him for that!
These types of imbalances are hereditary and I believe MAY have contributed to my brother’s suicide so I want to say NOW – There is NO SHAME in needing to go to a doctor to get better for depression and don’t you LET anyone shame you FOR IT. They don’t KNOW what you feel like. And you already KNOW Satan wants you dead. DON’T cooperate with him!!
• During those decades when I suffered with depression, I did what I knew to do to help myself. I developed a list of things that made me feel better when the depression hit. So whenever it came back, I would go to my list FIRST and try everything I knew helped. When I reached the end of my list if I still wasn’t better, then I would go see a doctor and get medication.
o Depression because You are Fighting a Losing Battle
o Sometimes depression comes because you have faced a situation that hurts you and you just can’t find a way out of it. You feel hopeless. I believe this was Elijah’s situation.
o NOTE: Much of the following about Elijah was taken from another sermon on Sermon Central, I forgot the name of who preached it.
o Elijah.
o One of the greatest prophets who ever lived!
o 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. - 1 Kings 19:4
o c. 1 Kings 19:1-19 (18) Elijah
o d. From this text we can see that Elijah experienced many of the classic symptoms…
o e. Fear - “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life….” 1 Kings 19:3 (ran +100 miles Beersheba afraid of Jez)
o f. Suicidal tendencies – “(Elijah) prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, LORD,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ 1 Kings 19:4
o g. Excessive tiredness – “Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep…” 1 Kings 19:5 slept for a couple of days… maybe longer
o h. Feelings of rejection – “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” 1 Kings 19:10
o i. AND he experienced this depression for a long time – nearly 2 months
o j. Bizarre is (just days before) Elijah preached one of the greatest sermons of his life.
o k. Confronted 400 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel -exposed false prophets.
o l. Because of Elijah’s faith & obedience God literally sent fire down out of heavens to consume the sacrifice he’d placed on the altar
o m. Then few hours later sent a downpour of rain on a land that hadn’t had rain for 3 years.
o n. Why would a man who had preached a impressive message & experienced some of the most powerful displays of God’s power…
o o. Why would he suddenly be crippled by fear, hopelessness and despair? Why would he run away to a desolate corner of the world and seek to die?
o (pause)…
o Probably all kinds of reasons, but the fact is – he did.
o This tells us even God’s most dynamic servants can suffer from depression.
o It’s not necessarily a lack of faith when depression hits you – Elijah definitely did not lack faith!
o Depression is not necessarily a demonic attack or a sign of sin in that person’s life.
o p. Elijah was THE man of God in his day. And now he’s so far DOWN in the depths of despair – even UP looks wrong to him.
o q. But that’s not where God left him
o Elijah wore himself out & did not get replenished
o He had time to hear from God for everybody else, but himself!
o God had an angel deliver to takeout to him to refresh him.
o Then as spiraled down further, got alone in a dark deep place finally was to a place he could hear God’s voice, and the Lord told him - “Your not alone I have 700 others”
o (Same thing happened to Moses, finally Jethro said get some help,
Other Biblical figures also dealt with depression. –
King David. Job. Jeremiah.Jonah. We’ll be talking more about them in the next episode.
Okay, let’s talk about some steps you can take to help you (or another person) if you are really depressed. I always found the simple things helped me the most. That may or may not be true for others, but here are some suggestions to try.
1. The single thing I found joy in most often during the depression after I lost two family members 2 months apart was going to Cottonwood Park in Dallas that spring and feeding the ducks – or geese or whatever they were. I frequented Ackley Park in Elk City and fed the geese often, too. I am an animal lover and find a nearness to animals very comforting. Helping them always brightens my day. Walking in the park was something else I loved doing. Or sometimes I would sit on this one grassy slope with a view of the pond. Towne Lake Park at McKinney has a fountain and an extended walking path. That was another favorite.
2. I looked for someone that needed help, and then helped them. Sometimes spending a half day in a soup kitchen, feeding the poor or handing out meals and serving the needy changes your whole point of view. When we are depressed, we become very self-focused. It’s natural to focus on where we hurt so don’t beat yourself up about that, but working with the poor and needy will always help us to see our own situation much more clearly, and it provides a welcome relief from our own anguish.
3. Practice self care. I am a workaholic, so I’m not as good at this as some people are. I see my body as a machine I need to push to do as much work for the Kingdom of God as I possibly can in whatever time I have left on earth. I want to give God all I’ve got and that’s how I do that. Practicing self care means to feed yourself nutritionally sound food, hydrate and get fresh air and exercise. It also means resting when you are tired, like Elijah did. Elijah was going 90-to-nothing doing the Lord’s work and he probably forgot to eat and got all run down, so the Lord sent him some takeout to help him recoup. That and rest helped him a lot.
4. Put on the Garment of Praise. I saw this garment in a vision when I lived at the old house in Princeton. It looks like its made of pure white light! If you know some praise songs you like, play those and praise God to them! It’s hard to stay sad when God shows up to inhabit the praises of His people! Real praise will literally drive OUT that spirit of heaviness.
5. In Jesus Name, bind up and cast out the demons of depression, hopelessness, murder, despair and suicide.
6. Find some promises in God’s Word and start confessing your way out of your situation. There’s actually an app for that now – LOL. I have not tried it but it looks helpful online. You can look up scriptures and confessions to say by subject like if you’re angry, or your sad, etc.
It’s called the Shut Up Devil Scripture & confession app: and you can find I at shutupdevil.org. I can’t make this up, yall.
End with and altar call or a prayer for those suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts.
