CHRISTINE GORDON | CONTRIBUTOR

The days are getting shorter. That bright light that peeked out from under my shades with hopeful energy in the early mornings has begun to wane. And night creeps up closer to dinner time. Some people barely notice the change. Their anticipation of pumpkin lattes and sweater weather is a welcome shift from the heat of summer. But some can’t help but notice. Because as the days go by their energy level seems to slowly drain out of some unknown orifice until it reaches a dangerously low point. Symptoms such as these may be attributed to what mental health professionals call Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.

I’d never heard of SAD but was painfully aware of my sudden desire to sleep fourteen hours a day as the month of November came around every year. When I was awake, I’d sit and stare out the window, unable to concentrate, wondering when I could get back in bed. When I read a description in my 20s, I finally understood there were others who dreaded the fall for the same reason I did.

Suffering and Mental Health

Maybe SAD isn’t part of your life, or that of someone you love. But it’s probable that some form of anxiety or depression is. Approximately 19 percent of Americans have some type of anxiety disorder. Eighteen percent will be diagnosed with depression in their lifetime. That means at least one out of every five people you interact with every day is battling something you probably can’t see. Anxiety and depression are specific types of suffering, often misunderstood, especially in the church.

Many times, believers in Christ who suffer with these disorders are shamed for not having enough faith. Surely one who is in Christ and regularly suffers from panic attacks and intrusive thoughts needs to repent of their unbelief and memorize Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25 and follows where He says, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life…” But most of these believers already know this verse and daily beat themselves up for not being able to stop being anxious. They’ve memorized all the verses along with trying everything else they can think of to stop the misery they experience at times when their anxiety is particularly severe.

Those who live with depression may ask themselves, “Why am I so sad all the time when in Christ I’m supposed to have so much joy?” “Am I not really a Christian?” “What am I doing wrong?” Sadly, the answer many of these suffering saints receive when they ask Christian friends or even pastors for help is, “Try harder.” They’re told to read their Bible more, confess their sin more fervently, or stop focusing on the negative.

The Fall and its Far-Reaching Effect

Is reading the Bible and confessing sin a good thing? Always. But attributing all anxiety and depression to spiritual laziness or immaturity alone is naive. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the garden, all of creation fell. This means not only our hearts were affected. Yes, our motives are corrupt and we still must fight the sin that resides in us. But our bodies also fell. Our brains fell. Our neurotransmitters fell. Our hormonal system, parasympathetic nervous system, and hypothalamus fell. This matters as believers because it means that your friend battling anxiety isn’t just dealing with her lack of faith as she struggles to drive to work or walk into the grocery store without having a panic attack; she’s also dealing with a brain that may not be producing the serotonin it needs to keep her calm. Or the dopamine she needs to work her way through a to-do list.

The story of the fall in Genesis 3 gives Christians a clear and wide category for all types of suffering. We, of all people, should be the most compassionate toward those who struggle with mental illness. And because we believe that there is no knowledge outside of God’s jurisdiction, nothing that does not belong to Him, we also have freedom to utilize all kinds of tools to push back against mental illness. Just as a mechanic would use a socket wrench to remove a lug nut, so a mental health professional might use talk therapy (cognitive behavioral therapy) or prescribe medication to help the brain work correctly.

The world may tell us that all mental illness is only physiological and that we therefore never have any culpability in such struggles. This is just as naive as the believer who insists all mental illness is only a spiritual problem. God made us complicated, layered people. We are often working against more than one obstacle when fighting mental illness: fallen hearts, fallen bodies, and the world–including Satan. We may need a good friend to help us tease out the core of our anxiety. We may need a trained counselor to walk with us as we work back to the roots of our depression. We may need the Spirit to convict us of the places we respond to our own disorder by sinning.

If you struggle with anxiety or depression, know this: Jesus sees you and is not ashamed of you. Just as He saw the widow whose son had died and had compassion on her in her suffering, so He sees and has compassion on you in yours. And God in His kindness has given you many wonderful tools to help ease the pain. There is help for this particular kind of suffering. The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort sees you. Reach out for one of the many resources available and know that the tools available are a good gift from Him.

Editor’s Note: Christine Gordon has co-written a new book with Hope Blanton titled, Hope for the Anxious and Depressed, releasing soon with B&H Publishing. You can learn more about it here.

Photo by George Dulishkovych on Unsplash