How to Handle Your Emotions (Counseling Through the Bible Series) (14 page)

1.
Depressive Disorders (also called unipolar depression)
¹⁴

•
Unipolar depression is primarily characterized by one extreme, emotionally-low state of depression.

•
Unipolar
(
uni
= “one,”
polar
= “pole”) refers to “one extreme end”

•
Unipolar depression is the most common type of mood disorder.

•
Unipolar, in the psychological community, is subdivided into three types: Major Depression Disorder (MDD), Dysthymic Disorder, and Depressive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.

When a person is continually depressed, he or she can understandably pray,

“Be merciful to me, O L
ORD
, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief”

(P
SALM
31:9).

2.
Bipolar Disorders (formerly called manic-depression)
¹⁵

•
Bipolar disorders are characterized by alternating patterns of extreme emotional highs and lows—mania and depression

•
Bipolar (bi =
“two,”
polar =
“pole”) refers to “two opposite ends”

•
Bipolar episodes of
mania
(an excessively elevated mood) can appear positive and productive to outsiders; however, true mania is negative because it usually leads to destructive decision-making, such as buying sprees, impulsive decisions, reckless driving, foolish investments, and immoral behavior

•
Bipolar disorder is subdivided into four types:

— Bipolar I Disorder

— Bipolar II Disorder

— Cyclothymia

— Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

When the heart is distressed because of a bipolar disorder, it can be natural to cry out to God for help as the psalmist did:

“I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night

I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak”

(P
SALM
77:1-4).

3. Mood Disorders (based on etiology)
¹⁶

•
The word
etiology
means “cause” or “origin.”
¹⁷

M
OOD
D
ISORDER
D
UE TO A
G
ENERAL
M
EDICAL
C
ONDITION
¹⁸

This means that unhealthy changes in a body, due to illness, cause psychological depression. For example, a 2007 study indicates that 27 percent of Parkinson’s patients experience depression, while earlier studies contend that up to 50 percent of untreated early Parkinson’s cases lead to depression.
¹⁹

S
UBSTANCE
-I
NDUCED
M
OOD
D
ISORDER
²⁰

This means that something entering the body causes depression. The substance could be medication, drugs, or exposure to a toxin (for example, alcohol, sedatives, birth control pills, medications to treat various diseases such as Parkinson’s).

No matter what the cause, the depressed person feels like saying,

“I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart”

(P
SALM
38:8).

This question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Although some people believe the answer is always yes, the accurate answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no.

Depression is not a result of sin when…

•
your heart grieves over normal losses. The Bible says,

“[There is] a time to weep…a time to mourn”

(E
CCLESIASTES
3:4).

•
your body experiences natural deterioration due to the passing of years, or your body chemistry changes and becomes compromised. The Bible says,

“Outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day”

(2 C
ORINTHIANS
4:16).

Depression can be a result of sin when…

•
you are depressed over the consequences of your sinful actions, and you don’t attempt to change.

•
you don’t take the necessary steps for healing (seeking biblical counseling, memorizing scriptures, reading Christian materials, getting medical help when appropriate).

•
you hold on to self-pity, anger, or bitterness when you have been wronged instead of choosing to forgive.

“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins”

(J
AMES
4:17).

•
you use your depression to manipulate others.

•
you continually choose to blame God and others for your unhappiness.

•
you are depressed because you choose to let others control you instead of choosing to obey Christ and allow Him to be in control of you.

If you willfully choose to stay in sin while you are taking the Lord’s Supper, remember that Jesus died on the cross for your sins—His body was broken for you (breaking of bread) and His blood was shed for you (drinking from the cup), and for you to remain in sin is to take the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. The Bible says of those who do this “that is why many of you are weak and sick” (1 Corinthians 11:30).

Depiction of Jonah’s Depression

D
EPRESSION AS A
R
ESULT OF
S
IN

Jonah’s bout with depression is an example of
situational depression
that occurs as a direct result of sin. Jonah is a man called by God. Yet he ends up angry, pouting, and in the depths of depression. How does Jonah become so deeply depressed?

Jonah is called by the Lord to preach God’s truth to the godless people of Nineveh. But Jonah rebels and boards a ship going in a different direction. When Jonah’s disobedience brings repercussions on the ship’s crew, he is rejected by the crew and literally thrown overboard.

Recognizing that the judgment of God is upon him to the point of losing his life (inside the belly of a great fish), Jonah cries out for mercy: “He said: ‘In my distress I called to the L
ORD
, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry’” (Jonah 2:2). The Lord extends mercy and spares Jonah’s life.

Jonah resigns himself to obeying God’s call. He declares God’s truth, and all the godless people of Nineveh repent.

Jonah becomes angry with God for extending mercy to those whom Jonah doesn’t deem worthy of mercy. Ultimately, he plunges into a severe depression in which he is consumed with bitterness and despair to the extent of wanting to die. Jonah moans, “O L
ORD
, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3).

Then, filled with seething anger and self-pity, Jonah makes this brief, poignant statement: “I am angry enough to die” (Jonah 4:9).

Those who struggle in the darkness of depression have difficulty seeing good in their lives…especially in themselves. They often look at life through a “black filter.”

When a photographer uses a black lens and takes a picture during the daytime, the photograph appears to be a night scene. In a similar way, the depressed see through a dark lens that affects their perception of the world around them. Consequently, they feel helpless about their situations, hatred toward themselves, and hopeless over their future.

If you are walking in the darkness of depression, you need to focus on the light of the Lord and know that He profoundly cares. In the psalm below, you can see how King David chose to change his focus while in a difficult time:

“Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. I cry to you, O L
ORD
; I say, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living’”

(P
SALM
142:4-5).

Words are powerful. They can change minds, hearts, and ultimately
lives. When a painful situation causes us to react with negative emotions, the thoughts that follow that reaction will determine if those
emotions
will rule us or if
truth
will rule us.

Why? There is actually a physical connection in all this, based on how God designed the human brain. When we feel emotional pain, if the language center of the brain is activated, the strength in the emotional center of the brain is automatically reduced.
This means our thoughts have power over our emotions—even to the point of overriding our emotions and bringing them into subjection.

Because the spoken word has more power than the unspoken word, it is important to speak words of truth—words of faith—in order that truth and faith may be strengthened within you. Ultimately,
feelings follow thinking.
Therefore, what you
say
to yourself about yourself, about your situation, about your future, and even about God will determine how you
feel
about yourself, your situation, your future, and God and His relationship with you. As you line up your thinking with God’s thinking, your words will bring life, not death.

“The tongue has the power of life and death”

(P
ROVERBS
18:21).

What do you say about yourself?

•
“I can’t do anything right!”

•
“Why should I even try?”

•
“My usefulness is over.”

•
“I hate myself.”

•
“Look at so-and-so” (by comparison).

•
“I must have done something wrong!”

•
“Nobody loves me!”