The Depressed: In Their Own Words

Welcome to another Brevis Talk. We today want to give you some words that come from the depress. These are actual words that, over a period of time that I have pinned down, that describe depression from the mouths of those who are fighting depression. One man says I can't go on. I'm tired, my mind is tired, my emotions are all over the place. Tell me what to do when I can't make a decision. It's just too difficult to make a decision. Just thinking about whether to put the left or the right sock on first causes tension and might be the thing that either brings on a cry or makes for a meltdown. Another says that when I'm depressed I have a short fuse. The smallest things set me off. I scream at my children. I have no patience with them. Then I feel guilty. My children's childhood memories are going to be of an angry, unstable parent. Another says I cry for no reason. I'm not a crying type person, but I cry now and it's uncontrollable, falling on the inside within myself. Another says I've been to the doctor, taken medication. Nothing changes. I'm just a miserable person. There's no hope for me of getting better. And yet another says I'm less resilient, pretzel-like, breakable and disposable. Yet another says I feel so unloved I have no purpose in this life. And yet another says I'm not living, I'm just breathing. And yet another says I'm a Roman candle, spent empty. Nothing left on the inside. A few dark burn marks are all that are left. And these are some of the words of the depressed in their own words. Let's give a few more. I'm weary. Everything makes me sigh. I sigh under my breath. My breath is a sigh. Depression to me is a steady, relentless downward pull. I'm worn down and frazzled. And yet another says I think I wish people would just leave me alone. And then I think I wish someone would call. The lady told me recently I pray. I pray a lot. Why doesn't God heal me? Another says I know it's a mean thing to say, but sometimes I wish my friends would become depressed so they would know how it feels. Yet another says I'm living with a limp. Another says I am alone on an island. One of the most telling ones was described to me just recently, where this individual said I don't talk about it with my family or friends because too many times I've gotten a sermon. The sermon is preached by those who've never been depressed and don't have a clue about depression. They say things like this You're not trying hard enough, you're not very tough, mama was too easy on you and you just need to reach down and grab that little extra you haven't used or tapped in and pull yourself up, cheer yourself up, try a little harder. You're weak. You shouldn't be so weak. You're emotional. You should not be so emotional. Don't think those thoughts and all in all we could go concerning the words of the depressed, words that have been spoken to them and even, yes, words that the depressed oftentimes perceive that people are saying you see, depression is a terrible, terrible place to be. It is not my purpose and I will not make light of any one's depression. I will tell you this and I'll continue to sound this off. I don't know why that person wasn't healed when they prayed. I absolutely don't know why. That is beyond my pay scale. It's above my pay scale. But I will hold the light of hope up. There can be better days. God wants you to have better days and sometimes we win these battles inch by inch. I remember my grandmother saying inch by inch, it's a cinch. It's not unlike a stronghold in your life, a wall that has been built in your life brick by brick, by brick. Now we know God could come down and he could knock the wall down with one fell swoop. One fell swoop he could knock that wall down. But quite often that wall must be taken down brick by brick, by brick, and depression sometimes is defeated. Well, let me say depression is quite often defeated, more often defeated one step at a time. Take one step, just one step. Make sure it's in the right direction, but just take one step and don't be so hard on yourself, say I took a step and there's so many things. And in the coming weeks we're going to talk about tools in the toolbox. Again, there's not one fell swoop that's going to knock depression down, but we'll talk about the different things that you can do and need to be doing and step by step, we will be able to see light punched into that black blanket. You remember I said that depression felt like a black blanket that was over the depressed, enveloping them, and no light could get in. And we began to punch holes into that blanket and light comes in. Well, these different tools, in their own ways, will punch even more holes into that blanket where more light can come in. If I'm talking to someone today. That's in a dark, dark place. I am very, very sorry that you were there and I'm very sorry if someone has said something hurtful or just brushed you off. I'm extremely sorry about that. But please, please, don't give up. There's hope in the Lord. Jesus. Christ is the hope of this world. Without Christ, there is no hope. But with Jesus you can get better. We'll tell you some practical steps to take, but you don't quit praying, you don't quit trusting, you don't quit leaning on those everlasting arms. And I'd like to close this episode with simply praying for you and praying for one another. Heavenly Father, we believe in your power, we believe in your grace, we believe in your love, we believe in your mercy and we believe you sent your Son to die for our sins. Now, father, I pray that whoever might be listening to this episode and finds their self in a bad, bad place, heavenly Father, would you shine light into their life, would you, god, within their being, by your powerful Holy Spirit, speak to their heart in such a way that they will know that there is a better day, a better day is coming. Give them hope, give them strength to take one step at a time. And, father, we know you love us and we thank you for that love. And again, we thank you for your Son, jesus, who is our Savior, our King and our All, and we pray in His name, amen. Thank you for stopping by. Come back, if you will soon, for another Brevist Talk, and we will begin to talk about those tools in the toolbox.