There are two primary types of depression.

Clinical depression is when we have fallen and cannot get up on our own. Clinical depression is often associated with other chronic illnesses and/or serious medical conditions. This may or may not have any objective contributing factors, and requires the diagnosis and treatment of doctors.

Cyclical depression far more common. This kind of depression affects all of us and is a part of the human condition. Contributing factors may include:

• fatigue
• loss (of loved ones or friends, jobs, health, or a myriad of other things)
• troubled relationships
• financial pressures
• stress
• moving
• life changes

Clinical and cyclical depression may look and feel similar. But the primary difference is that cyclical depression can most often be overcome through the hope of God’s Word, the power of His Holy Spirit, and Godly friends.

Three helpful strategies in battling cyclical depression are:

1. Identifying the Facts

Scripture is brutally honest about the hurt and pain associated with life in a fallen world. In many Psalms the writers quite openly voice their deep despair and cry out to God for the hope and help that only He can give.

In Psalms 42: 5, David asks: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?  And why art thou disquieted in me?

“Cast down” is a shepherding term referring to a sheep that has fallen and cannot get up. Without the shepherd’s help, it will die. It is also a perfect description of how depression feels. Depression is often characterized by overwhelming negative emotions that are frequently vague. Words like bleak, dark, down, blue, oppressed, hopeless, or grey can describe the feelings.

When David asks himself why he is cast down, he is literally thinking through his circumstance to identify the specific cause or causes for his depression.

Journaling can be a very helpful first step in identifying and battling depression. Make yourself put your feelings into concrete, specific words. I’m depressed because_________.

The resulting list may be obvious: I’m depressed because I lost my job, or my health, or the health of a dear friend or loved one. Or it may be a bit more illusive: I’m depressed because I’m getting older, or nearing retirement, or my children are about to leave home.

The goal of the list is to have one or more factual causes for the depression.

2. Interpret the Facts

It is often said “facts are facts, but how we interpret the facts is the key.”  It may be helpful to seek the help of a wise, Godly friend. The Bible tells us that two are better than one… for if they fall one will lift the other up (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). It is our duty and privilege to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).

Often when battling depression, we see the facts correctly but interpret them incorrectly. Aided by the world, the flesh, and the devil, we see the glass as half empty and not as half full. Perhaps we’ve been carrying the burden for so long that we’re simply too tired to see it any other way. We need the fresh perspective, strength and energy of a good friend to help us carry it for awhile.

Perhaps based on the facts of our situation, we have concluded that we cannot go on. We need fresh eyes to see the new door that God is opening for us. Trust the Lord to send you a trustworthy friend to help you go through your list. Trust them to interpret the facts correctly and from a different point of view.

There really is wisdom in a multitude of counselors.

3. Address the Facts

Even in the darkest, densest fog, a compass will always point due north with 100% accuracy. God’s Word does exactly the same thing. Our emotions and feelings are the most unreliable guides when we are experiencing depression!

Here are just a few verses from Scripture that will keep us pointed in the right direction:

• 1 Corinthians 10:13
• Psalm 23, 42, 61, 77, 88, 91, 102
• Romans 8:28-39

Read these passages often. Praying these passages. Memorize them. Writing them from your Bible on index cards. Placing them on your refrigerator, bathroom mirror, or beside your computer screen. Reading them out loud. That will surely begin to displace the darkness of depression with the hope and light of truth.

It’s Only a Test

When God allows us to enter a time of darkness, it is a test. It is only a test. Those are the times to “be still and know that He is God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Twice the disciples had followed the Lord’s instructions to the letter and both times found themselves in a hurricane. In both instances, He delivered them in miraculous ways through which they came to know, appreciate, and trust Him more than they could have any other way.

Near the end of Job’s trials, he said that he had always heard of God through the hearing of the ear but that he had now seen Him (42:5). The Lord will sometimes do the same thing with us. Through it all, He will prove Himself to be the friend who sticks closer than a brother, who will never leave us and never forsake us, and that if He is for us who can be against us.

The choices that we make in those storms will determine if we hear Him say “it’s all right, it’s Me, don’t be afraid!” Or “why did you doubt, you of little faith?”