On Christian Counseling - II - Can Depression Ever Be a Good Thing

Here in my second post in this little tag team series I am doing with Adrian Warnock, I want to throw out a scenario, offer some opinions and get some input.

A couple of nights ago, my family and I watched one of our two favorite shows - Monk. Here is a description of Monk, from the show's website.

OBSESSIVE. COMPULSIVE. DETECTIVE.

Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) was once a rising star with the San Francisco Police Department, legendary for using unconventional means to solve the department's most baffling cases. But after the tragic (and still unsolved) murder of his wife, the devastated Monk became obsessive-compulsive. His psychological disorder has caused him to develop an abnormal fear of virtually everything: germs, heights, crowds... even milk. His condition eventually cost him his job, and continues to pose unique challenges in his daily life.

Monk is a detective afraid of the dark, a gumshoe afraid of gum. He has no problem cracking a case - as long as it doesn't involve heights or germs, and is in close proximity to his apartment. He'd like nothing more than to gain back his position on the San Francisco police force, but can he pull himself together and get back to solving crimes full time?

In the show, Monk regularly sees a psychiatrist. In the past, the psychiatrist has tried to prescribe medicine to settle Monk down, but he won't hear of it. He doesn't want any chemicals in his body. But in this show we watched things had gotten so bad and he was so down that he decided to take a medication offered by the psychiatrist. When Monk takes the medication, his fears, phobias and obsessions go away and he becomes a whole new person - the life of the party. But, he loses his keen crime fighting abilities. He has to go off the pills and return to the old neurotic (psychotic?) Monk in order to be able to solve the crime.

So, it is obvious that, in his neurotic state, he has an unusual ability to solve crime. When medication enables him to overcome his neuroses, he loses his ability. So, I have a question - can medicating mental conditions have adverse affects (besides any physical side effects of the medicine itself)?

Before you write the question off as unrealistic, as it is coming out of fictional situation created in Hollywood, I would beg you to consider the cases of Charles Haddon Spurgeon and Soren Kierkegaard. Both were well known for suffering from depression or melancholy. Like Hamlet, Kierkegaard has been called the melancholy Dane.

Regarding Kierkegaard, here is an excerpt from an article in the journal Encephalos: Archives of Neurology and Psychology:

For a philosopher, like Sψren Kierkegaard, every page of his works is a window to his soul. Every work of the Danish philosopher illuminates some aspect of the perplexity of his psychological background. The depression, which started even from his childhood, is one of the main components of his psychological profile, been prominent in his life and seen clearly in his manuscripts, by those who are acquainted with the form of his writings. The dominant, austere, pious contradictory and melancholic personality of his father on one hand and the feeble and always discrete personality of his mother, on the other hand, have had contributed greatly in developing a very introversive and melancholic character. The very formal and ironic atmosphere of the elementary school, characterized by pietism and austerity acted as an additional factor for Kierkegaard’s further introversion and esotericism, resulting to a partial social isolation. Persons who have played an important role in enhancing Sψren Kierkegaard’s depressive tendency, inclining him to melancholy, were his father, his fiancee Regina Olsen, whom Sψren Kierkegaard engaged and returned her ring within one year, and the editor of Corsair, a light hearted weekly, who ridiculed, despised and humiliated the philosopher in public for weeks through the pages of his journal, provoking a negative social irradiation. Sψren Kierkegaard has had also the feeling of anxiety for the spiritual disintegration of his age, since the belief in eternal and absolute values, were replaced by secular values and the man was gradually inclined to spiritual and moral annihilation.

As for Spurgeon, he was similarly afflicted, consider these words:

I was lying upon my couch during this last week, and my spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for — but a very slight thing will move me to tears just now — and a kind friend was telling me of some poor old soul living near, who was suffering very great pain, and yet she was full of joy and rejoicing. I was so distressed by the hearing of that story, and felt so ashamed of myself, that I did not know what to do; wondering why I should be in such a state as this; while this poor woman, who had a terrible cancer, and was in the most frightful agony, could nevertheless "rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory."

And in a moment this text flashed upon my mind, with its real meaning. I am sure it is its real meaning. Read it over and over again, and you will see I am not wrong. "Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness." It does not say, "Though now for a season ye are suffering pain, though now for a season you are poor; but you are in heaviness;" your spirits are taken away from you; you are made to weep; you cannot bear your pain; you are brought to the very dust of death, and wish that you might die. Your faith itself seems as if it would fail you. That is the thing for which there is a needs be. That is what my text declares, that there is an absolute needs be that sometimes the Christian should not endure his sufferings with a gallant and a joyous heart; there is a needs be that sometimes his spirits should sink within him, and that he should become even as a little child smitten beneath the hand of God. Ah! beloved, we sometimes talk about the rod, but it is one thing to see the rod, and it is another thing to feel it; and many a time have we said within ourselves, "If I did not feel so low spirited as I now do, I should not mind this affliction;" and what is that but saying, "If I did not feel the rod I should not mind it?" It is just how you feel, that is, after all, the pith and marrow of your affliction. It is that breaking down of the spirit, that pulling down of the strong man, that is the very fester of the soreness of God's scourging — "the blueness of the wound, whereby the soul is made metter." I think this one idea has been enough to be food for me many a day; and there may be some child of God here to whom it may bring some slight portion of comfort. We will yet again dwell upon it. "Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations."

I would not wish the O.C.D. of Monk or the depression of Spurgeon or Kierkegaard on anyone. Yet, could Spurgeon and Kierkegaard have gained the wisdom and influence they attained without the depression they experienced?

I still can see a time and place for the relief of symptoms of depression through medication, but where do we draw the line in this? How can we help folks in depression (or O.C.D. or whatever else) see God in the midst of their pain? I don't have all the answers, so any input would be appreciated.

Comments

[Funky Dung]

As a researcher in AI, I see neuropsychological disorders differently. It seems to me that "absent-mined professor syndrome", common sense being inversely proportional to intelligence, and various neuroses in geniuses are side effects of that genius. If you push a system, in this case the brain, past it's optimal operating specifications, a price must be paid. Systems degrade when pushed too far for too long. Think of overclocking a CPU and you'll get the gist. So when Monk medicates his neuroses away, his brain begins to operate within normal parameters. He loses his genius as a result. I have heard that some ADHD sufferers find themselve robbed of creativity, imagination, and inspiration when taking Ritalin. I suspect similar mechanisms are at work there.

[Rong]

That's a really tough question to answer and one that I'm sure even the professionals ask themselves on a daily per patient basis. I certainly think that someone who has been in a debilitating depression for a long period of time should consider that there may be a medical reason behind their affliction. Simply an imbalance with the Thyroid gland can cause major mood swings let alone a chemical imbalance in the brain.
I have a very good friend who has suffered with depression for over 20 years. The only thing that has kept her from probably commiting suicide has been her husband. He has been there for her 24/7 with the most unfailing servant heart that I have ever heard. After years of trying everything imaginable she has finally been able to get herself on an even keel through medication, but as a warning to others, medicine is not the magic bullet. It took a few years to get just the right balance of medication so she could function daily without some horrid side effect.
If it's a question of when to get help, I think the most intelligent source to turn to is your family and closest friends. They are the ones who know you best and who have the best idea of who you are, when you're neither too high or too low.

This is a great series that you and Adrian are putting together. I look forward to your next installment.

[Adrian Warnock]

You ask a good question....
For now, my answer will have to wait as for once real life trumps blogging.

[Adrian Warnock]

I guess my comment on this would be it really does depend on a case by case basis. Doctors should not diagnose mood disorders unless the mood symptoms are severe enough to interfere with a patients life- ie if the mood symptoms are hindering the person from functioning as normal for them.

Also, in some cases normal mood fluctuation can be masked by certain of the medications- as always it is best to have a full medical assessment to establish the best treatment for a given individual. It may be a simple matter of adjusting the dose or medication that will make all the difference.

[Julie Anne Fidler]

Wow - this was an AWESOME post.
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be a writer if I hadn't suffered from depression most of my life. It's not always fun, but it can be helpful at times!

[Terry]

I was living on a military post in Germany. In a certain Boy Scout troop, 9 out of 12 boys were on ritalin. It seemed unlikely to me that the majority of those boys were abnormal. Statistically, it sounded more like a Dave Barry joke than the sad situation that it was. Don't get me wrong, each family must have to deal with their child's behaviors and emotions. A child in trouble is no joke. I really think ritalin is taking the place of strong schedule and discipline; it takes the place of enough challenges to keep the mind and body settled. People who have outstanding abilities in the past, despite their flaws, were called heros. Now we ensure they don't get out of hand.

I have had a number of people in my life with sever mental disorders. Medication was necessary to stop hallucinations and depression. I really beleive there is a practical side of dealing with the individual situations where one is just doing damage control rather than finding a healthy mind. This is sometimes the best one can hope for.

By the way, in your Kierkegaard quote, it talked about the relationships in his life. I'm convinced that the dichotomy between sociology and psychology is a false one. I have found in my own experinces with psychological pain, mine and others, often social relationships are the source of the greatest pain. It is not the individual alone that has the disorders but also his or her relationships.

[Neil Uchitel]

I always identified with Kierkegaard's melancholy. Reading his work it was abundantly clear that his melancholy was the reason he had the capacity to say what he did because of it. No one could have gone as far into the philosophical wilderness without it. Beethoven was the same way. I used to read his letters and it was as if I had written them, they were so similar in the "place" they came from.

Without depression and melancholy, I never would have written some of the music and poetry I did when I was younger, and as far as I'm concerned, it would have been a loss. There were times when people told me I should "take something" but I refused. I figured if I couldn't get through life without those things no matter how debilitating sometimes, I never would. Then, my expectations of life changed, and I was fine.

Julia Kristeva has a book called "Black Sun" which is about melancholia, and there are parts of it that are very interesting. It's worth a read.

I've made a much more substantial response on my blog though.

[Ben]

Thought provoking stuff, Jolly. In our culture we are taught in many ways that we can figure out a way to live where we do not suffer. What link does this have to depression?
To me there is a distinction between sorrow and depression. Our culture, in general believes sorrow to be a weakness rather than a sign of feeling and loving deeply. Sorrow is often mislabled depression. His wife died so he is depressed etc. Many don't delve into the the more sorrowful books of the Bible, Lamentations, Jeremiah, some of the psalms etc. My feeling is that if some can't spin a happy gospel from a piece of the Bible they avoid it.
There is much to be sorrowful in our world even if there is no major loss in one's life at the moment. There is loss in not being able to connect as deeply as we'd like with our loved ones, the transient nature of our society, or in good things like sending a child away to college or giving a daughter away in marriage. Sorrow and joy co-exist at all times in our souls. If I say mother, father, sister, brother, pain, joy, Jesus, work, ministry, dog, death a miriad of feelings arise thinking about each situation or person.

Depression, not just due to a chemical imbalance, is a way to not deal with life head on. It is an overwhelming sense of all of this is too big for me so I just can't/won't deal with the specifics of it. It is a way of avoiding.
I think in times of trauma depression can be a means to stay alive because in those situations our body and soul can only deal with so much. One may shut down to just survive through the stess and it is ok.
For me, sharing at the most raw vulnerable places of my soul is what feels most alive. Some of the times this is a place of joy, affirming words of coming into manhood by my father or a certainty of being deeply loved and forgiven by God. Other times it invovles my sorrow like when my neighbor across the street hung herself just before Christmas or when I forgot an important appointment with my friend who's husband had been killed a couple of years earlier.
I believe Kierkegaard and Spurgeon may have dealt with some depression--I don't think the line is always clear cut between sorrow and depression--but I believe more that they were men who felt deeply and had the courage to go in and bless us by revealing, or speaking from the pain in their hearts. They lived out the gospel by suffering, yet offering us all gifts in their writing or preaching.

[Bob]

After a year of suicidal thoughts and deep depression, at the begging of my wife (a GP by the way) I finally saw the doctor and got some Effexor. The side effects were awful. I felt like I was chewing tinfoil, was sleepy all the time, my digestion went to pot and several times a day I felt a glitch in my brain like on the old TV's when you changed channels. After 6 months I was delighted to stop taking the stuff. However,I could finally think in perspective and face the real issues of my heart. I still wonder whether that was the medication or simply owning up that I had a problem that was too big for me to deal with on my own.

[JDM]

This is an interesting post. In regard to the connection between depression, or more generally mood disorders, and writing; many, many famous and gifted writers have suffered from them. Yet even with their depression I think you would find that there is an "optimal" state of depression where they would be depressed but not so much where they were incapacitated. Often you'll find that these writers were incapacitated much of the time and if they had some way of being able to address their depression properly they would've been much more productive. (but maybe not as great?)
As far as depression in general, there's a difference between a so-called clinical depression, normal grief, normal sadness, etc.
There is a biochemical component to all we experience and in certain circumstances, the proper medication given the proper way is a tremendous healing gift of god. To be anti-medication in all cases is dangerously ignorant but that doesn't mean that medication is the answer. In fact, most studies show that a combination of other approaches in conjunction with medication is the most effective way to treat many common problems.
-JDM

[JDM]

PS: In the episode of Monk you referred to, it would be nice if psychotropic medication really worked that way -- but it doesn't. The medication isn't going to cause a personality change but is actually going to help him to be more the person he really is. In real life, it's doubtful that he would lose his crime-fighting abilities because his personality would be such that he would have "an eye for detail" even if he were taking medication - it would be a core part of his personality which medication wouldn't take away.
-jdm

[David]

JD - thanks for the comments, particularly clarifying the different kinds of depression. I don't have the expertise in this that you do, but I can intuitively see the difference in some folks.
I've appreciated what some of the other commenters have said here, particularly as they share their experiences. And I agree with you that different methods need to be employed. I'm just most concerned that people look to God in the midst of their depression and realize He can work through these, rather than being solely fixated on feeling better. I think most folks will understand what I mean when I say "solely fixated," I'm not saying that its wrong to want to feel better. Just that this shouldn't be the one dominating issue.

[bounce]

http://campedi.com/wwwboard/messages/2695.htm complimentwhosewondered

[Sandy Boler]

I have been clinically depressed for about 16 years now. I am now 56 and the depression started when I was 40. In the beginning, I thought it was a phase I was going through. However, after about 5 years, I finally realized something more permanent was upon me. I sought help and saw a therapist for about a year and starting taking effexor. My situation improved dramatically. I became more successful at work than I ever dreamed possible. Not much bother me. In fact, I was now almost devoid of emotion whereas before medication I wore my emotions on my sleeve and cried over any and everything. However, there were side effects; I gained weight, had horrible nightmares, night sweats, and decreased sex drive. Just this year, I asked my doctor to wean me off the effexor. He did and it took some months. I was OK for awhile and then the depression resurfaced. I can identify with the post that suggested a social link. I am most effected in certain social situations. Mostly when I perceive that an injustice has been done. I've read some about depression and think that the "learned helplessness" explanation best fits me. I often find myself thinking and saying "I'm trapped and there is no solution, no way out." I can trace that thinking back into my childhood when I was abandoned in an orphanage after my grandfather died. I think about going back on medication daily but resist. I'm looking for something positive in my depression. I'm a Christian and sometimes think God is allowing or even administering my afflication for my own good. It's a way of reminding me everyday, if not every moment, that I'm dependent on God. Sort of like the thorn in Paul's side. God is saying to me "my grace is sufficient for you." Because of the shed blood of Christ, when I am weak, then am I strong. God does not hold back the rod from those he loves. The only hope I have is in Christ and him crucified.

[Cara Fletcher]

I can't say that depression is a good thing at all.It makes you feel as a crap you need to use medications to stop it and sometimes that doesn't help.So depression is more than nasty.

[Rev'd M.Mashiter]

Are there any NHS Christian Psychiatrists practicing in UK? Or are they all in places like USA?

[Cara Fletcher]

I don't think that depression can be a good thing.This is a state that it's really hard to overcome and you should take all kinds of drugs to help you get through it that may have side effects on you.

[mk]

I too struggle with depression and why it is so with me. I do not believe that there is an easy answer. We are complex creatures and there is a mixture of body/soul aspects to consider with respect to depression. I am a christian and am thankful for the grace of God which gives me hope. One of the main reasons for depression is sin. On the other hand there are aspects such as temperment or constitutional make up that tend to make others more prome to depression than others. Introspection, super sensitivity, contemplative,analytical,reflective types are more prone to become depressed. When thre is imbalance in these areas, they can lead to mental disorders. These traits are not bad in and of themselves it is when there is an imbalance. The fall of man in Eden has impacted us both physically and spiritually and the bible brings answers and hope for our condition.