Can you relate?

Depression Stats to think about:

Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.

Everyone, will at some time in their life be affected by depression -- their own or someone else's.

Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants.

The rate of increase of depression among children is an astounding 23%.

15% of the population of most developed countries suffers severe depression.

30% of women are depressed.

54% of people believe depression is a personal weakness.

15% of depressed people will commit suicide.

Depression will be the second largest killer after heart disease by 2020 -- and studies show depression is a contributory factor to fatal coronary disease.

Symptoms of Depression:

• Sadness, anxiety, or "empty" feelings
• Decreased energy, fatigue, being "slowed down"
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed, including sex
• Insomnia, oversleeping, or waking much earlier than usual
• Loss of weight or appetite, or overeating and weight gain
• Feelings of hopelessness and pessimism
• Feelings of helplessness, guilt, and worthlessness
• Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
• Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, or remembering
• Restlessness, irritability or excessive crying
• Chronic aches and pains or physical problems that do not respond to treatment

Causes of Depression:

Even though short-term depression can be caused by loss or extreme trauma, chronic or life-long depression can be caused by trauma in childhood. Some may have a genetic basis, but even if it is genetic, it must be triggered by some traumatic or stressful event.

But the cause that intrigued me is that most are physiological problems, plus learned beliefs and behaviors, making functional decisions difficult, and the results reinforce the depression in a vicious cycle.

Learned beliefs and behaviors...hmmm, what does that say about our belief systems?

Standard Treatments (which do not work):

Antidepressants work for only 30% of the depressed population. [Antidepressants work only as well (or less) than placebos.]

Standard antipressants are linked to suicide, violence, psychosis, abnormal bleeding and brain tumors.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has an 80% relapse rate in the long term.

With treatments like these, do we have a chance against depression?

Effective Depression Recovery:

Below is a list of effective treatments that I found listed from many websites.

Good relationships
(with partners, caregivers, teachers, co-workers and a supportive social network)

Meditation, prayer and relaxation exercises

Fostering spiritual beliefs and a sense of purpose and sharing them with others.

Spending time in nature and with pets.

What intrigued me about the causes is the fact that majority of the causes of depression is from our learned beliefs and behaviors. Are we teaching ourselves to be depressed?

I would also like to point out that the effective treatments include relationships, prayer, and spiritual beliefs. Thus speculating that there is a direct link between depression in-creasing and church memberships de-creasing.

This is what I found on the Internet:

An article titled: "Prayer May Heal Depression" states: "It seems prayer really may have the power to heal." "Religious coping includes prayer, drawing comfort from faith, and having support from church members."

"Prayer and other forms of religious coping, especially in moderation, may help reduce depression" according to new studies about the effects of prayer and depression. "Study results also suggest that a unique, complex relationship exists between religious coping and depression", as stated in this article from Bio-Medicine on a study titled "Religious coping may ease depression in cancer patients spouses".

Another article from Psychology Today, titled "Prayer: Heavenly Helpers" describes a long time sufferer of depression and how prayer helped. Quoted: "If there is a moral to this story, it is that no matter how sophisticated brain science and technology become, there is no substitute for human love and caring."

From my personal experiences, when I fostered my spiritual beliefs, and devoted my life to one of prayer, I started developing good relationships and had a sense of purpose. "There is no substitute for human love and caring".

God knew that! For this is our #1 rule...

and Jesus knew that! For he added...

Depression is a real feeling, and many times we do not see it in others. Depression can be the sister you meet for lunch, the neighbor you say "Hi" to every day, your child's classmate who carpools with you, in fact, as the poem above states "not all scars show and not all wounds heal". Since God know the hearts of these people, I pray that we open our eyes to see what God sees and show His Love to everyone.

Other Verses of Love and Hope:
please take some time to look these up and share them with others around you. You may just save a life.

I John 5:3,4

Isaiah 43:1-4

Isaiah 41:10

Isaiah 41:13

Joshua 1:5, 6, 7, 9

Phillipians 4:6-7

2 Timothy 1:7

1 Peter 5:7

John 14:27

Psalm 94:19

Zephaniah 3:14-17

Ephesians 2:12

Hebrews 13:5-6

1 John 4:18

Ephesians 1:18

1 John 3:1

Prayer for Those Coping With Depression

Dear Lord,

you are our refuge in good and in bad times. In your infinite mercy, bring peace and comfort to those of us who face days sometimes filled with pain and depression. Help us to realize that through you there is joy and the promise of lasting peace. Help us through the rough times. Walk before and beside us so that we may walk in your footsteps and reach out to you in our journey on this earth. Help us to focus on our blessings rather than our misfortunes, dear Lord. Thank you for hearing and answering our prayers.

Amen
- Beliefnet member gfry