{"id":1775,"date":"2016-10-13T07:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/depressionhelp\/?p=1775"},"modified":"2016-10-11T17:57:59","modified_gmt":"2016-10-11T17:57:59","slug":"up-from-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/depressionhelp\/2016\/10\/up-from-depression.html","title":{"rendered":"Going Up From Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"up<\/a><\/p>\n

I want to tell you about my experience with depression. I think God allows some of us to experience it in our lives. But we can have hope in the midst of it, and we can go up from depression.<\/p>\n

My Experience<\/h3>\n

As a young mother, I fell into a deep post-partum depression. Attacks of depression continued over seven years. They would vary in length with the longest period lasting for nine months. I lived in a very isolated area and rarely visited a doctor or talked with other people. One thing I continued to do though, was talk to God and cry out in my despair.<\/p>\n

Up From Depression<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I’m a Christian. I recognized at a very early age my need for God and His deep love for me. Years later, I was in the pit of despair, crying out to a God that I felt had abandoned me.<\/p>\n

I thought Christians shouldn’t be depressed. My husband and friends couldn’t understand what was wrong with me. Their comments pushed me to a place of deeper despair. Again, I called out to God for help. Where was He? Had I so disappointed Him that He would not hear me? When I felt most tormented I would read my Bible looking for relief and comfort.<\/p>\n

In the following Bible passages God spoke to me:<\/p>\n

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” <\/em>(Matthew 11:28-30).<\/p>\n

“Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
\nYou know when I sit and when I rise;
\nyou perceive my thoughts from afar.
\nYou discern my going out and my lying down;
\nyou are familiar with all my ways.
\nBefore a word is on my tongue
\nyou know it completely, O Lord.
\nYou hem me in – behind and before;
\nyou have laid your hand upon me.
\nSuch knowledge is too wonderful for me,
\ntoo lofty for me to attain.<\/em><\/p>\n

Where can I go from your spirit?
\nWhere can I flee from your presence?
\nIf I go up to the heavens, you are there;
\nif I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
\nIf I rise on the wings of the dawn,
\nif I settle on the far side of the sea,
\neven there your hand will guide me;
\nyour right hand will hold me fast.
\nIf I say, \u2018\u2018Surely the darkness will hide me
\nand the light become night around me,”
\neven the darkness will not be dark to you;
\nthe night will shine like the day,
\nfor darkness is a light to you.<\/em><\/p>\n

For you created my inmost being;
\nyou knit me together in my mother’s womb.
\nI praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
\nI know that full well.
\nMy frame was not hidden from you
\nwhen I was made in the secret place.
\nWhen I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
\nyour eyes saw my unformed body.
\nAll the days ordained for me
\nwere written in your book
\nbefore one of them came to be.<\/em><\/p>\n

How precious to me are your thoughts, 0 God!
\nHow vast is the sum of them!
\nWere I to count them, they would out number the grains of sand.
\nWhen I awake I am still with you.<\/em><\/p>\n

If only you would slay the wicked, 0 God!
\nAway from me, you bloodthirsty men!
\nThey speak of you with evil intent;
\nyour adversaries misuse your name.
\nDo I not hate those who hate you, 0 Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?
\nI have nothing but hatred for them;
\nI count them my enemies.<\/em><\/p>\n

Search me, 0 God, and know my heart;
\ntest me and know my anxious thoughts.
\nSee if there is any offensive way in me,
\nand lead me in the way everlasting” <\/em>
\n(Psalm 139).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Slowly, these truths began to touch my heart. God began to show me the steps I needed to take in order to begin my journey up from depression.\u00a0As I stepped out in faith, believing the truths and principles that He had shown me, I began to realize God’s plan for my life.<\/p>\n

How do You Gain Victory Over Depression?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I can only speak to you from my own experience. I’ve found the following helpful in dealing with depression and releasing me from its hold:<\/p>\n