The Depression Deception
According to the website WrongDiagnoses.com, the following statistics show that ‘depression’ is a major malady in our American society today:
Prevalance of Depression: estimated 5.3% adults (USSG); 17 million people; approximately 4% of adolescents get seriously depressed (NIMH); annually 12% of women ; 7% of men; lifetime risk of an episode for women 20%. 3-4 million men USA.

http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/2002/Zoloft_USPI_rev4.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/label/2005/20031s045,20936s020lbl.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/label/2003/21434_xanax_lbl.pdf
The above links show package inserts to the most popular depression remedies used by millions of Americans, young and old, (Xanax, Zoloft and Paxil)
Mania, seizures, hallucinations, dizziness, vomiting, suicide, etc……All are just a few possible side-effects of using these anti-depressants.
The package inserts sound like a prescription for poison…basically, that is what the above named drugs are.

I read yesterday where 1 in 10 women will be ‘treated’ for depression using one of those drugs and that children as young as 3 ½ years of age have been prescribed for because of ‘extreme shyness’.
I don’t know about you but the idea of so many drugged people walking around with psychosocial disorders makes me a bit uneasy.

What is depression anyway?
According to Merriam-Webster the following is the definition for depression:
a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies
In many ways, the cure sounds as bad, if not worse, than the disease.

I must confess, there have been many times when I would have liked to stay in bed, roll over and fall into a deep , possibly everlasting sleep! However, I have always forced myself to overcome these feelings with action. What I believe is this:
As a Christian woman, Satan will oftentimes try to disrupt my service to the Lord by throwing discouragement, sadness and guilt in my face . It’s what he does best to short-circuit a Christian’s walk.
As a woman, and a weaker vessel (1Pe 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. )I know that my body and my mind can fall victim to hormonal ups and downs, PMS, menopause, pride and illness, all these can cause any woman to react with depression at least one time or another. The concern is, is that you don’t snap out of it, thus becoming ineffective and totally inactive.
Inactivity is Satan’s dream for the saved woman (or man). People don’t hear the gospel when you’re too busy licking your own wounds.
When you are totally taken in by your own worries and fears, you hole up in your house and can’t talk to anybody without your focus on your own sadness, you have lost the battle and the enemy has won.
Wallowing in depression is SIN!
God has not abandoned you (Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?) Many times, it’s money problems-we get ourselves into a hole because we didn’t trust God to provide in the first place and then things fall apart, we blame ourselves, a spouse or maybe even the Lord and we get depressed!
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Many times, it is the thought of ‘what if’ that scares you into depression.
You dwell on what might have been or what you should have done and so the opportunity for the here and now fades and is replaced by the nagging worries of the future or the inability to cope with the details of the past. Either way, depression in that case is sinful because it becomes idolatrous. It steals faith from the believer and causes him/her to become self-centered in their own despair. You become the idol to yourself as you wallow in the mire of your own faithlessness.
Truly, I am no heartless monster. I only want to point out that as a Christian, depression MUST be thwarted through a closer walk with the Lord or your whole testimony is lost!
Depression is fearfulness. Fear is not of God( 1Jo 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love)
Fear is paralyzing and that is exactly what walking around in a depressed state does to you. It paralyzes your judgment, your actions and your service to the Lord.
Now what about chemical imbalances? There is always a possibility that poor nutrition, stress and a sedentary lifestyle can magnify problems because of the body’s inability to cope with stressors and to adapt to change. God is wonderful in that he created herbs and whole foods for us to eat so that we can nourish our brains and bodies. The more we stay away from processed foods, artificial colors and flavors, white sugars, and bleached flour, the better the chance we will be healthy in mind and body.

Stay away from ‘witch doctors’ who want to put you under the spell of their medicine magic. You may think you can just use a drug for a short time and get over the ‘hump’ and be back to your old self….but don’t believe it. The antidepressants are there to get you hooked and coming off of them can be a long, slow process that has risks of it’s own. Either way, anything that plays with your brain chemistry cannot be GOOD for you!

My conviction is this:

If you think you are depressed pray more, get into God’s Word more and ask Him to point out what it is in your life that is causing you to feel this way.
REPENT if there is sin separating you from God. There is nothing sadder than a Christian on the run from their Father! It’s a race you will NEVER win!
Feed your body with healthful foods and try soothing herbs to calm you (Chamomile, St. John’s Wort, Catnip are just a few.)
Get yourself up and OUT! Visit old folks in nursing homes, run an errand for a shut-in, go to the pound and adopt a pet to love you, do a good deed just to do it!
Whatever you do….don’t fall into the inactivity trap.
Witness to the lost, sing psalms and hymns, clean your church home…but DO…DO…DO!
Tell Satan to flee from you! Trust your Heavenly Father and thank Him out loud for all he has done that is positive!
Remember Job and count your blessings…most especially remember Christ on the cross and reckon that things in your little corner of the world could be a LOT worse!