Disclaimer: I do not want pity, "I'm so sorry"s, or anything of the sort for what I am about to confess, the only reason I am confessing these things is to show how amazing God is and to help others who may have these problems and have never talked to anyone.
I've struggled with depression for a long time now. Depression can be caused by many different things; health problems, medications, trauma, loss, your brain not producing enough of a chemical called serotonin. All of these follow under the categories Chemical Depression and Environmental Depression. For me, mine probably comes from many different things dealing with chemical depression; my health, my medications, etc. The current cause is a medication interaction, which I am thankful for because at least I know it will go away.
The more scientists study on depression, the more that is being revealed about just how physical of a condition it is. It was something I never could understand for the longest time. How could you just not want to get up? How could you just lay around and do nothing all day and be okay with it? But then, next thing I know, I'm in the exact same boat. Depression has many symptoms. For me, I no longer want to do anything, I feel hopeless, stop eating, and sleep all of the time. When I don't have depression, I have an extreme drive, I'm a work-a-holic, I always have to be doing something, and I have a lot of energy. I spend my time working, studying, working out, healthy/productive things. But when my depression flares up, that all goes away.
Though I take medication for my depression, this week some stress came up at work, my health spiraled, and Satan attacked me the best he could, so I fell back into a depression. Later, I realized a lot of the depression came from a temporary medication. I didn't want to do anything or go to work, I had lost my appetite, but what bothered me the most, was it was all physical. Inside my head, I was with God, praying, studying His word, and trusting in Him. Sure, I was upset having my health spiral and stress at work, but I knew it was Satan attacking and I knew that with God, I would be protected and would be able to win this spiritual battle. Inside, I was content, yet these feelings and these physical symptoms wouldn't go away.
I feel as if I've always come out of battles with Satan broken, battered, and often beaten. This time, I wanted it to be different. I wanted to take up arms, take up the armor of God, and fight. I'm fighting hard, and I will continue to fight.
Now I will speak about the spiritual aspects of depression. Many Christians do not believe that depression is a real, physical thing. Often Christians think that it is a spiritual war. I believe that it is, just like how any other illness can be turned into a spiritual battle. Imagine when you get sick, you're feeling down and yucky. Wouldn't Satan use that? Wouldn't that be the prefect time for him to try and trip you up? That's exactly what he does. Mental illnesses are a very real thing, and Satan loves to jump on the opportunity.
Now, this leads to the big question; how do you fight depression?
Disclaimer: I am not a mental professional by any means, these are just things that help me and have helped me spiritually, physically, and mentally.
1. Take care of yourself physically.
Taking care of yourself, physically, something that has really helped me. If I make myself eat healthier, work out, and stay hydrated, I feel so, so much better. If I eat a ton of junk food, it makes me feel yucky, and that's the last thing anyone needs when feeling depressed.
Also, try to dress nice, don't let your depression sink into the way you dress. Put on a little bit of makeup, do your nails, dress pretty. Little things like that can really help. Try to pamper yourself a bit. Take a hot bubble bath, give yourself a mani and pedi, put on a face mask. Anything that makes you feel good. Drink a hot up of tea, or some hot cocoa.
2. Take care yourself mentally.
Don't let other people bring you down. Surround yourself with good people who will bring you up. Try not to scroll through and read the dramatic posts on social media, stick with uplifting things. All together, try to stay off of social media as much as possible unless you are seeking out uplifting posts. That being said, read a book, listen to music, go outside. Sunshine and fresh air helps so much! Don't be afraid to loosen up and have fun, goof off, be silly! Hang out with friends. The biggest key is that you have to make yourself do these things, because you're certainly not going to want to. If you actually get out there and make yourself do things, for me at least, it makes a big, big difference. Also, try to keep your room/house clean. Lack of clutter really helps with stress.
3. Take care of yourself spiritually.
Another major thing is taking care of yourself spiritually. Stay in the word of God. So often when I feel depressed, I won't want to go to God. I'll feel too down to talk to God about it. Listen to sermons, read the Bible, pray. Keep God as much into your life as you possibly can. Use Him as a blanket! "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." Psalms 91 This is one of my absolute favorite verses and it is so, so true. I imagine a mother hen covering her chicks with her wings. By keeping God in my life though my struggles, it has made the biggest of changes. Something my favorite pastor Dr. Tony Evans says, we need to stay full in God. We go to church on Sunday and get filled up, but then we usually don't eat again until the next Sunday. Imagine that you are a car, we go to the gas station every Sunday and fill up, but then we don't go back for a week, so when we do go back, we are running on empty. Don't deprive yourself of something that can help you so much! To help fight depression, I listen to 2 Tony Evans sermons a day, I try to pray as often as I can, I keep God in my mind throughout the day, I listen to Christian music during work, and I watch Christian youtuber girls, and I communicate with Christian friends throughout the day. It's amazing how much it helps to surround yourself with Christ! Lately, just praying has helped a ton with fighting these emotions.
Don't handle depression by denying it's there, or by covering it up. That doesn't mean you have to announce it, or anything of that sort. Come to terms with it so you can begin to heal. If you bury it, you can't heal.
Something Dr. Tony Evans said in his sermon, "Overcoming Emotional Strongholds"; Emotions respond to what we think. Emotions have to come from thoughts. Who controls your thought life controls how you feel. If the devil is controlling your thinking, then you will feel like how he wants you to feel. If God is controlling your thinking, then you will feel like God wants you to feel. Emotions piggyback off of thoughts. This is why we surround ourselves with Christ, instead of sins and the world.
That's all I've got for this. :-) This was a longer post than I meant it to be, but I hope this helps someone out there. ♥ Below are some links with more information on depression including a video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGJzPBjK67whttp://www.webmd.com/depression/
"28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
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