Bible Studies

Depression

--Intro: Depression--

Have you ever felt like you're in a pit of darkness? A black hole that you can't escape. And that the only way to escape is to just end it. Yeah, that's depression.

Statistics say that depression affects 121 million people in the world. Sometimes you can tell that people are depressed by the way they act. Others don't look depressed, but are secretly struggle to hide it inside. Here are some ways to tell if you, or someone you know, may be depressed:

- you have a sense of hopelessness and dread

- you may be more angered easily, or more aggressive

- you eat too much or too little

- you wear long-sleeves all the time, even in the summer, to avoid people from possible seeing your self-inflicted cuts (cutting is a result of depression)

Now let's see what the Bible has to say about this. Even though it doesn't mention the term, that doesn't mean it doesn't have any advice or answers. The Bible's full of them; you just have to ask. Below are some questions that deal with depression. I have beside them Scriptures that answer the question.

Can anyone help me?- Psalm 88:1-4, Psalm 46:1, Isaiah 41:13

Why should I not be depressed?- Psalm 43:5, Nehemiah 8:10

What do I do when I'm depressed and want help out?- Psalm 69:13-15, Psalm 120:1

How long will I be depressed?- 2 Corinthians 4:17, Psalm 30:5

You might notice that most of these Scriptures are from Psalm. This is a book full of poems written to God by King David. But not just any kind of poems; they're prayers. You see, King David talked to God whenever he was happy, mad, jealous, and especially sad. The book of Psalms is full of his personal emotions that he poured out to God with his ink and paper.

We'll do one question each day.

If you want to, you can do it all in one day, but I figured that you were really busy, so I thought it would be easier the other way. Whatever way you want it. Now, check out Psalm 88:1-4.

--Day 1--

(Psalm 88:1-4)

"Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you. May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. I am overwhelmed with troubles

and my life draws near to death. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength." (NIV)

If you feel like you're the only one dealing with depression, don't worry. Unfortunately, millions of others join you, even King David. When he felt depressed, what did he do? He prayed to God. Just because he's a King, doesn't mean he has a perfect life. If you read through the Psalms, you'll notice that some of them tell stories about when he sinned. Like I said, King David wrote about EVERYTHING.

Now let's focus in on some parts of this Scriptures. "I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death." Is this how you feel? That no matter how much your friends or family try to cheer you up, it just doesn't work. Like you've been wandering around in a dark cave for months, and you finally decide to give it up, not caring about what's at the end anymore. It's ok to be down every now and then. Life happens, and sometimes we can't control our emotions. But it's NOT ok to give up and get depressed just because something didn't go your way, you didn't get exactly what you wanted, whatever the reason. Everyone will be affected by depression sometime in their life, either with depression from themselves, or from their friends. Don't make it more than once.