Depressed? I know the cause…
I’ve been depressed before, but I also know this about depression. It’s not real. It is something that exists in people’s minds. It cannot be seen or touched or identified by sight or spirit in the real word. It’s all in people’s heads.
I hear people say things like,,, I just feel sad. My career isn’t going well. My kids don’t talk to me. My dad was an alcoholic. I hate my job. I hate my life. I’m fat. I’m ugly. I don’t have many friends. People don’t like me … and on and on goes the drone. If I had an answer for you in your times of depressed feelings, would you take my advice?
A doctor’s advice is usually medicine. Doctors see depression as a chemical imbalance in the brain that causes negative thoughts. Doctors will prescribe medication to correct the chemical imbalances, thinking it will therefore correct your thoughts. What you actually need to do is correct your thoughts, and you will in turn correct your chemical imbalances. In other words; think positive and you will feel positive.
Why in poor countries are reported rates of depression significantly less than in western countries? We have everything, they have nothing. You’d think that somebody who doesn’t have food for their family would feel depressed, yet no, it’s the western businessman with everything who feels depressed.
If you’re depressed my advice to you is to stop thinking about what you want, what you don’t have or what others have. Focus on something greater than yourself, be happy for what you have and what you are and cherish it. Remove the word ‘I’ from your vocabulary and you will find a happiness that you seek. Actually what I am describing is the Christian like as call for by Jesus. A disciple of Christ is trained to NOT think about yourself, but others. It is summarized by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:3 & 4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Become a Disciple of Christ and find yourself leaving the doldrums of depression. My advice is try God first.