{"id":13501,"date":"2014-08-13T13:03:58","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T18:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/simchafisher\/?p=13501"},"modified":"2015-01-10T19:55:24","modified_gmt":"2015-01-11T00:55:24","slug":"faith-reason-depression-and-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/simchafisher\/2014\/08\/13\/faith-reason-depression-and-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith, reason, depression, and help"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

PIC bug in jar<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of bad information about depression, suicide, and faith swirling around the internet this week. Here\u00a0are a few things I know:<\/p>\n

No, depression and mental illness don\u2019t necessarily take away your free will, turning you into a helpless victim who wings straight to Heaven if you commit suicide.<\/p>\n

No,\u00a0you can\u2019t just pray away the sadness, will yourself to\u00a0be joyful, or do this one weird trick that will earn you emotional stability and peace.<\/p>\n

The truth lies, as is so often the case, lies somewhere in the middle of all these extreme bad ideas.<\/p>\n

Many people who are severely depressed are suffering from some combination of spiritual and physical ailments.
\nMany people who are severely depressed are dealing with some things that are out of their control and some things that are within their control.
\nMany people who are severely depressed need sacrificial love and patience from friends and family, and also some kind of hard work and self-knowledge in order to make it through the dark times.<\/p>\n

And many people who are severely depressed need both\u00a0faith and reason to help them through. This is not a new idea! Here is a passage from Sirach:<\/p>\n

9 My son, when you are sick do not be negligent,<\/span>
\u00a0 \u00a0 but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.<\/span>
10 Give up your faults and direct your hands aright,<\/span>
\u00a0 \u00a0 and cleanse your heart from all sin.<\/span>
11 Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial portion of fine flour,<\/span>
\u00a0 \u00a0 and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.[e]<\/span>
12 And give the physician his place, for the Lord created him;<\/span>
\u00a0 \u00a0 let him not leave you, for there is need of him.<\/span>
13 There is a time when success lies in the hands of physicians,[f]<\/span>
14 \u00a0 \u00a0 for they too will pray to the Lord<\/span>
that he should grant them success in diagnosis[g]<\/span>
\u00a0 \u00a0 and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.<\/span>
15 He who sins before his Maker,<\/span>
\u00a0 \u00a0 may he fall into the care[h] of a physician.<\/span>

Sirach 38:9-15<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here is a post from John Herreid, writing as a guest on my sister\u2019s husband Bill Herreid\u2019s newish blog,Life, Liberty and Absolute Crap:<\/a><\/p>\n

Depressed Catholics: God Wants You to Get\u00a0Help.<\/a><\/h2>\n

Please read it, and please forward it to anyone who could benefit from hearing an honest account by\u00a0a faithful Catholic who suffers but has gotten help.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s\u00a0experience<\/a> of depression is different from my own. I haven\u2019t been fascinated with death ever, that I can recall. But I have had the experience where it physically hurt to draw a breath, to move, to get out of bed. I would hear people talking about feeling better, and that was not what I wanted. I just wanted to die, so that I would not feel anything anymore. There was no experience of anything but pain, ever. \u00a0I could see the world, the people who loved me, the things I used to enjoy, and it was as if I moved around behind a dome bulletproof glass. Nothing could touch me, and I couldn\u2019t do anything but feel paralysis and suffocation. I couldn\u2019t say anything true, feel anything genuine, express anything worthwhile. The only thing I knew was that I had to live, and I didn\u2019t know why I deserved that.<\/p>\n

So. \u00a0If someone is telling you to see a doctor, see a doctor. Ask someone to help you make that phone call. Even if the first treatment you try, whether it\u2019s drugs or therapy or something else, doesn\u2019t work, try something<\/em>. Name the lie that you can fix yourself by trying hard to be\u00a0a better person. You need help, and God wants you to get help.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 PIC bug in jar \u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of bad information about depression, suicide, and faith swirling around the internet this week. Here\u00a0are a few things I know: No, depression and mental illness don\u2019t necessarily take away your free will, turning you into a helpless victim who wings straight to Heaven if you commit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[667,207,765],"class_list":["post-13501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-depression","tag-self-knowledge","tag-sickness"],"yoast_head":"\nFaith, reason, depression, and help<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  PIC bug in jar   There's a lot of bad information about depression, suicide, and faith swirling around the internet this week. 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