Why Christians Are Hesitant To Talk About Depression

Many Christians struggle with depression, yet receive little sympathy from their fellow believers.

They are viewed with a certain amount of suspicion – they must be harboring some secret sin or they’re failing to exercise faith. Otherwise, they’d be healed. When you feel like you are being judged, you won’t be likely to talk about your depression.

Often Christians feel uncomfortable talking about being depressed, or seeking help because there’s so much confusion about depression:

The vast majority of people know very little about the role of the brain in our thinking and feeling processes. I’m afraid that even many Christians and pastors lack vital understanding of brain science, and especially of the role the brain plays in our lives.

Yes, of course, some depressions can be caused by sinful actions, thoughts, and feelings. But depression can also be caused by the “machine” that processes our perceptions, thoughts, and feelings breaking down and malfunctioning. Like the factory with a broken conveyor belt, it doesn’t matter how many high-quality raw materials you put into it, the goods are going to come out damaged until the machinery is fixed. You can press the switch as often as you want, but if the cable is broken you will still remain in the dark.

Another reason Christians are hesitant to talk about depression is hyper-spirituality:

Although Christians with heart disease, diabetes, blood disorders, cancer, etc. do not think that it is unspiritual to seek and use medicines to relieve their symptoms and even cure their illness, many seem to think that there is some spiritual virtue in suffering depression for months and years without any medical intervention.