Depression & Spirituality

According to the National Mental Health Association, more than 19 million Americans suffer from clinical depression annually. Spiritual practices can, however, offer solace, hope, or even a means of regaining health. Preview a sampling of insights from our

where users present an intriguing range of perspectives on the connection between spirituality and mental health.

If you are depressed or love someone who is, never ever give up, because it can only get better, and will... I thank God everyday for helping me... and that was my turning point. Asking for help, and letting go. The mind is a miracle, if we fill it with enough joy and love, it will over power all that junk that cripples us... My faith is my most valued possesion these days. Shalom.

I think the love of God is the healing balm of life. --C.P.

In those moments of spiraling into the abyss, it helps to remember what we've known to be true and real before the spiral started--and we can remember by hearing other people speak about the reality of God's love... We were made for Life--and the darkness will pass and light will come again.

It is because of the struggles with my mental illness that I have found a new understanding of what I call God. everyone must find their own way. I try only to offer my hope for another fellow traveler.

It has been Buddhist meditation that has enabled me to finally see depression for what it is. It has enabled me to step back and look at it objectively and dispassionately... We may conceptualize God/the Absolute differently, but love remains the central concept.

To be known fully and loved fully is to know joy and peace and healing... I have not been free of depression since coming to faith--but somehow the knowledge of God's love keeps the bottom from feeling quite as low as it used to--or maybe it's that "a hand" seems to catch me before I hit the pit.

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