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Psalm 13:1-5 (KJV)
How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
This will be the most personal post I’ve ever done on this website. Except for this one, of course. I’ve struggled with depression probably my entire life. It’s been getting worse over the last two years, ever since the events in the linked article above. I was inspired to write this post after being told that I had “the sin of depression”. It made no sense to me that depression would be a sin but decided to research it myself.
Doing a search for “sin of depression” doesn’t bring up anything about that, but instead things such as “10 Symptoms Of Depression“, “12 Signs of Depression“, and “Recognizing Depression Symptoms: 9 Warning Signs“. So that’s honestly comforting in an odd way. People aren’t pushing that foolish idea that depression is a sin. Unlike this page, which claims that depression and anxiety are sinful behaviors. Like someone can just choose to no longer be depressed anymore or to stop having anxiety at will.
I had someone tell me a story the other day where they met someone who struggled with depression and he told him that Jesus loves him, and “his face just lit up and the depression melted away. It’s that easy”. Uh… No it’s not. That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works!
It is definitely asking too much to ask that everyone always be able to be happy all the time, 24/7. 365 days a year. There is going to be dark moments from time to time. Some are a little darker than others.
Pretty much the only site I found that actually said it’s not a sin and talked about it being a mental disorder (you know, something you can’t just will away) was one of my favourite sites, one I’ve used countless times on this site; Got Questions. They rightly say that some depression isn’t something you can control, that going to a doctor for depression is the same as going to the doctor for a physical injury. I actually have been diagnosed with depression. They also did another, related article I highly recommend if you’re depressed.
Here’s a list of resources you can use if you struggle with anxiety and depression.