Introduction
Depression is epidemic. One of every 18 adults suffers from depression, a problem that seems to be on the rise. The frantic pace of life in our society, combined with a breakdown of traditional values, is taking its toll. Life is too uncertain, and its many disappointments create an appalling sense of loss. Many of our losses are tangible, such as jobs and friends. More significant are our abstract losses of security, personal worth, and control. As a culture, we may well have entered our own emotional "Great Depression."
The economic cost of depression in the United States is estimated in excess of $16 billion a year. Estimating the emotional and human costs of serious depression both in the lives of those suffering and in the lives of the millions more family members and friends who are affected is impossible. Those lives are often disrupted to such an extent that families disintegrate, and many have their lives turned topsy-turvy.
In the past, depression was always associated with a major mental breakdown and seemed to be restricted to a few poorly adjusted, usually anonymous, persons.
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Now it has assumed a real, familiar, and very personal identity. It is found with frightening regularity in ourselves, our relatives, and our friends.
Depression is no respecter of age, sex, or occupation. We are seeing an alarming increase in childhood depression. In fact, both the "youthfulization" and the aging of depression are two of its most frightening features. No longer is it just a problem of middle or later life.
Nothing is as tough to fight as depression. For some it comes swiftly, often arriving unannounced. For others it creeps up subtly over many months. When we finally realize we are in its grasp, it has already sapped our strength to fight it and fogged our minds to understand it. It knocks us flat before we have a chance to put up a defense.
Strangely enough, only about one-third of those seriously depressed will actually seek treatment. Some don't know they can be helped. Some don't accurately label what they're feeling. Most don't seek treatment because they're too depressed and feel too helpless and hopeless to believe they can get better. Many choose to "tough it out" for months or even years rather than get treatment.
Among these untreated depressed persons are, of course, many Christians. They don't realize that with the right sort of treatment, they could probably bounce back in a matter of weeks, and many could prevent any reoccurring episodes of depression. Their failure to get help is sad.
What can you do about depression? How can you deal with it and help others deal with theirs? Dark Clouds, Silver Linings is designed to help you cope from a Christian perspective. In it, I unmask this foe and reveal its complex (though understandable) nature and causes. The material that follows will not only help you to survive the battle, but also to emerge a healthier and wiser warrior.
The book is divided into three major sections. In the first, I provide answers to the more general questions about depression: questions concerning its definition, nature, and causes. I have also included chapters relating to depression in women and in children and adolescents.
In the second section, I offer a systematic overview of how we can bring healing to our depressions. Chapter 9 is directed specifically to spouses or friends who want to understand and support the depressed person. This distinction is not meant to restrict the use of either part, however. Anyone who suffers will benefit by reading all the material.
In the third section, three well-known people describe their experiences with depression and show how, with God's help, they arrived at healing. Joni Eareckson Tada battled
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with depression as a result of an injury that left her permanently paralyzed from the shoulders down. Florence Littauer's depression resulted from the birth of two hopelessly brain-damaged children. Ministers become depressed, too, and Ben Patterson's account illustrates how fatigue, tension, and illness can paralyze even a successful Christian minister through depression. You will be encouraged by the way God, in very practical ways, used depression to teach and strengthen each of these people and to prepare them for a more effective ministry to others.
A thoughtful and prayerful reading of this material will not only help you understand depression better, but it should help you understand yourself as well. God provides us all with spiritual resources for coping with depression. To use these resources effectively, we need to understand ourselves and how our minds and bodies function. It is my prayer that you will be a more effective and understanding counselor and friend to depressed people around you. But above all, I pray you will come to understand that growth through the trauma of depression can only be fully accomplished in the context of faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
