LOSING HOPE

This post focuses on pandemic-induced depression as well as feelings of hopelessness, especially as it deals with Christians or anyone else looking for hope or an excuse to go on in these difficult times. Depression occurs for a number of reasons, some beyond your control. It is no shame to be depressed, and it is not a contradiction or indictment of your faith if you do suffer from depression. If you are struggling daily with sadness, losing sleep at night, having trouble concentrating during the day, or getting out of bed, or feeling overwhelmed, you need to see a doctor or licensed professional counselor.

If you are thinking about harming yourself or ending your life, you need to speak to a trained professional immediately. Don’t put it off. Go to an emergency room, an emergent care clinic, or even a police station and report how you are feeling. This should lead to an evaluation by a mental health care professional. Another resource is the Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-8255.). But whatever you do, if you are considering harming yourself or ending your life, you should seek professional help immediately.

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Stressors in society today

This Pandemic is now into its twentieth month. To me, that is depressing in itself, but even more unsettling is that no one knows when it will end. Is the worst behind us, or is the worst yet to come?

We all know what the stressors are today. Most of us have several of them, but they bear repeating. There are the people who have gotten sick, hospitalized and then returned to their lives and there are those who never saw their loved ones again. There are those who are “long-haulers” who may never truly recover. Physicians, nurses and first responders are burning out. One pediatrician who spends her days with children who cannot breathe properly because they are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and who are accompanied by their anxious, concerned parents wrote only this week “Physicians have gone from being heroes to being villains. We have dedicated decades of our lives to learning how to care for you, but now our knowledge and expertise are being thrown back in our faces as not good enough and not as believable as your cousin’s friend who saw something on social media.”

“Physicians have gone from being heroes to being villains. We have dedicated decades of our lives to learning how to care for you, but now our knowledge and expertise are being thrown back in our faces as not good enough and not as believable as your cousin’s friend who saw something on social media.”

Lisa Cronk, M.D.

Then there is the issue of masks, vaccines, and lockdowns, and the heated, horrible controversies over them. The confrontations over the dinner table with relatives and at 30,000 feet by angry, unruly and occasionally incoherent passengers.

There are the lockdowns, which affect young people in particular. I’ve heard from teenagers about broken relationships with their peers, as well as feelings of fear, panic, lonliness and a general inability to cope. Add to that the grieving over a parent or grandparent who died from COVID-19.

Two of the concerning issues accompanying the pandemic deal are the economy and the housing issues. Federal unemployment benefits under the CARES Act ended only days ago, and job seekers are polishing their resumes precisely as many service sector businesses are cutting back staff to deal with the delta variant outbreak. The moratorium on rental evictions ended August 26th when the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 do do so, and the moratorium on foreclosures of single-family homes for homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments ends this month. Add to that the rapidly rising cost of inflation (5.4%) and you have a dreadful trifecta affecting many Americans. So, it should be no surprize that a recent study concluded that: “Lower income [Americans], having less than $5000 in savings, and having exposure to more stressors were associated with greater risk of depression symptoms during COVID-19.” The study also mentioned that as far as the general population is concerned, “…depression symptom prevalence was more than 3-fold higher during the COVID-19 pandemic than before.”

“Lower income, having less than $5000 in savings, and having exposure to more stressors were associated with greater risk of depression symptoms during COVID-19.”

Catherine K Ettman, Salma M. Abdallah, et al. titled “Prevalence of Depression Symptoms in US Adults Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic”

Depression defined

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), depression is defined as:

“F32:

The DSM V criteria includes the following caveats: “The individual must be experiencing five or more symptoms during the same 2-week period and at least one of the symptoms should be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure. To receive a diagnosis of depression, these symptoms must cause the individual clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. The symptoms must also not be a result of substance abuse or another medical condition.”

Other types or presentations of depression include post-partum depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the polar correlate of hypomania in bi-polar affective disorder and dysthymia. Furthermore, depression is also common in patients recovering from heart attacks or heart surgery, people which chronic pain, diabetes, eating disorders, HIV, and those experiencing grief and loss.

Post-partum (perinatal) depression can in rare cases develop into psychosis, and hospitalization may be needed. While depressed, some people will actually hear voices. I personally suffer from mild depression and those times that I had depression, I would sometimes hear faint sounds suggesting murmurs or whispering which I could not decipher. That is part of the clinical picture (though hearing voices when no one is around is something that needs to be reported, too.)

Why do people become depressed?

WebMD says that often we do not know why people become depressed. “No one knows exactly what causes it, but it can happen for a variety of reasons. Some people have depression during a serious medical illness. Others may have depression  with life changes such as a move or the death of a loved one. Still others have a family history of depression.” But there is a genetic link with depression, and a history of family violence or sexual abuse can also lead to depression eventually, if not immediately. Stressors at work can lead to depression as can financial difficulty.

In the case of perinatal (postpartum ) depression, about one in seven new mothers experience it. The National Institute for Mental Health says:

“Perinatal depression is a real medical illness and can affect any mother—regardless of age, race, income, culture, or education. Women are not to blame or at fault for having perinatal depression: it is not brought on by anything a mother has or has not done. Perinatal depression does not have a single cause. Research suggests that perinatal depression is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Life stress (for example, demands at work or experiences of past trauma), the physical and emotional demands of childbearing and caring for a new baby, and changes in hormones that occur during and after pregnancy can contribute to the development of perinatal depression. In addition, women are at greater risk for developing perinatal depression if they have a personal or family history of depression or bipolar disorder or if they have experienced perinatal depression with a previous pregnancy.”

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/perinatal-depression

Depression occasionally accompanies Holidays or anniversaries of an event, too. Women who have abortions often have issues with depression as well, and that may be related to a sense of loss or, in some cases, regret. Depression can also accompany menstruation and menopause due to shifts in hormones.

Coping with depression

Depression saps your strength and your will. A person who is moderately or deeply depressed cannot just “snap out of it.” A depressed person in the home also affects relationships and dynamics in that home. Over time, these behaviors become more entrenched and intractable.

Whatever strategies you’ve read here or elsewhere will require certain preparatory steps from you as the depressed person in order to be successful. Step one is to see your physician. Your family doctor may prescribe one or two medications for you, and it may take a while before you find the specific medication or combination of medications that your body responds to best. Visits to a professional counselor are helpful, too. This is because (among other reasons) you don’t always perceive things around you accurately, or you may lack impulse control, or be vulnerable to scams from con artists. I’ve used counselors who can reflect back what I’ve said and who will prompt me if I am being inappropriate.

Some people find maladaptive ways of coping, such as indulging in substance abuse. Alcohol sales are rising during the Pandemic.

“Among those drinking more during the pandemic, many are doing so in an effort to cope with stress, anxiety, and depression,” said George F. Koob, Ph.D., Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, MD. “While alcohol can temporarily dampen anxiety and other uncomfortable feelings, the relief is short-lived and negative emotions tend to increase above normal when the alcohol wears off,” Koob said.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2021/03/17/soaring-pandemic-alcohol-sales-causing-concern-for-doctors/?sh=1d9e346725db

For several years while in the U..S. Air Force, I taught a six week course on nursing principles to young recruits selected to work in Air Force hospitals around the world. We had three groups of students each six-hour day: “A” shift which ran from 6:00 a.m. til noon, “B” shift which began at noon and ran until 6 p.m., and then “C” shift which began at 6:00 p.m. and ran until midnight. There was a fellow instructor on “A” shift with me (I’ll call him “Joe”) who would be at work at 5:00 a.m. each weekday for the first two years that I knew him. Then Joe, who was around 32 years old, started coming in at 5:15 a.m., then, a few weeks later at 5:30 a.m., then 5:45 a.m. and then 6:00 a.m. It was odd to us but then he was not late arriving for work until he started coming in at 6:15 a.m. That meant his students were sitting in an empty classroom or could not begin a lab for fifteen unattended minutes. We had to talk to Joe. Joe had no explanation. He just said “I wake up at the same time as ever, shower and dress, pour a cup of coffee, and then try to decide if I want cream or sugar that day.” He could not decide. Our supervisor was a nurse, a major who eventually earned her star and retired as a general, and she knew immediately that Joe was struggling with depression. Getting him on the right medication brought back the “old Joe.” However, medications alone are not always a “silver bullet.” Nuitrition and exercise are also important considerations, too.

Different people cope differently with stress and depression. Some put on weight while others lose weight. Some people resort to alcohol or illegal drugs (or abuse prescription drugs such as pain relievers, sleeping preparations, etc.) Thus, these choices are not therapeutic and make recovery even more problematic.

Visiting your pastor can be helpful too, if he had some training in counseling and psychology in seminary. I knew a depressed lady once from a liturgical church who was struggling with depression, and she told me that the only advice her pastor could give her was “remember your baptism.” I understand what he was saying, but it wasn’t helping her with her daily activities. Sometimes a person’s depression is spiritual, however, some sort of oppression, and in cases like this a discerning pastor is most helpful.

What is hope?

Hope is looking forward to something better. A pregant person hopes for the birth of a healthy child. A prisoner hopes for release from jail. A student hopes to graduate with their degree. Soldiers hope that their sacrifices are not made in vain. As long as “hope lives,” people can get by from day to day.

Why we as Christians can hope

In I Cor 13:13, Paul calls hope (ἐλπίς) “one of the three great pillars of the Christian faith” along with faith and love (ἀγάπη is Paul’s word choice.) Barclay continues: “Only the Christian can be an optimist regarding the world. Only the Christian can hope to cope with life. And only the Christian can regard death with serenity and equanimity” (Barclay:73.)

Then, there is Romans 5:3-5: “…we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” The message here as I understand it is to persevere in your suffering and not give up. That perseverance leads to a change in character which is complimented by hope. Paul was no stranger to suffering. Earlier he wrote to the Corinthians: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body (II Corinthians 4:7-10.)” Paul describes our bodies as “jars of clay,” because it was from the ground tha humanity rose, and our mortal bodies are fairly fragile. In Greek mythology, Gaea and Poseidon had a son named Antaeus. He was invincible as a wrestler, and every time he wrestled with someone and was thrown to the ground, he leaped up stronger than ever. So be with us in some sense if we persevere. And Paul was no stranger to depression, either. When in jail awaiting to see Caesar, he felt abandoned, perhaps as Jeus felt in Gethsemane when the disciples fell asleep during Christ’s last hours before the Cross. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus was touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Specifically, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” The words “every way” come from the Greek word πάντα, which means “every single way” or “altogether.” Jesus knows the temptation that an alcoholic has when he needs a drink (yet Jesus was not a drunkard.) Jesus knows the temptation to lie or steal (yet Jesus was not a liar or a thief.) And Jesus knows our depression, too. He felt abandoned on the Cross, lonely, in pain–anyone of those human emotions is associated with depression. Yet, He rose from the grave and as Christians, we will rise as well.

I understand that Bruce Springsteen’s mother suffered from depression, and her advice to her son was to “put one foot into every day.” By this I understand that she meant that no matter how depressed he might feel, he should at least make an attempt to accomplish something each day. He might not be able to complete what he started or his efforts might be unsuccessful, but he should at least make the effort.

In my life, I’ve seen three years of amnity and anger with God disappear in a flash when God explained Himself to me. So, while it may take some time for your depression to lift, it is also possible that your life can turn around quite rapidly.bible and thou hast turned my mourning

In Psalm 30:11 David writes “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness…” One minute we are singing the blues, the next minute we’re dancing. God wants us to have life in abundance, and we should not allow the devil to take away our joy. If we can get our depression under control, we can move on and move up to better things.