Tag Archives: Depressed

Gwyneth Paltrow Used Communication to Overcome Depression

Gwyneth Paltrow didn't understand why she felt so badly after the birth of her son Moses in 2008. "I expected to have another period of euphoria following his birth, much the way I had when my daughter was born two years earlier," she wrote. "Instead I was confronted with one of the darkest and most painfully debilitating chapters of my life. For about five months I had, what I can see in hindsight, as postnatal depression." Read More

If you have been feeling down or have battled a sense of helplessness, you may be depressed. It’s natural to feel down after something goes wrong, but if the feelings linger and nag at you for an extended time, you may need extra help to overcome it.

There are a variety of ways of dealing with depression.  Some people may try increased exercise or some form of meditation. Some people immediately turn to anti-depressants to help them.  They hope for a cure for depression, but in reality, medication only calms the symptoms, it does not deal with the cause.

Gwyneth Paltrow used communication to help her through her postnatal depression.  She listened to the counsel of friends and talked openly about her feelings.  This can really help with depression, but many times people do not have the strength to confide in people when they are feeling depressed.  What can that person do?

If you need depression help, there is someone you can talk to who will listen to you and offer a positive solution. His name is Jesus Christ.  Jesus already knows that you battle depression. He cares about you and is willing to help you take the next step forward.  He created you and understands what led you to the despair that you are feeling.

If you want Jesus’ help with your depression, talk to Him. If you do not know what to say, why not pray this prayer?  

"Dear Jesus, I am hurting today. I feel so depressed. I do not know how to overcome this sense of helplessness I am feeling. Please forgive me for the wrongs I have done and help me to experience Your love. Bring me out of my despair and help me to be joyful about living again. I ask You to become Lord and Savior of my life and to be my best friend. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

If you prayed that prayer, please click the button below and someone will contact you to help you take the next step

-Bill Hennessy

I Prayed the PrayerI have QuestionsPrayer Request
.
Posted in: Depression, Featured / Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Finding Your Way Out of Depression

One thing that our ever-changing world hasn’t changed is the tendency people have toward feeling down.  Depression has become such a major issue that cities are now looking into ways to filter anti-depressants from the water supply. 

People who battle depression describe it as trying to paddle a canoe against the current.  No matter how much effort you pour into it, it seems everything is working against you.  If you have felt that kind of despair, you are not alone!

Depression help is available. Doctors can often prescribe medications that alleviate the symptoms, but not really repair the circumstances that created issues that made you depressed in the first place. So, counseling is also advisable.  Beyond that, is there a solution for someone who is feeling depressed? Yes!

If you feel down and need help with depression, do not overlook a spiritual answer.  Jesus Christ knows about your frustration and sense of helplessness. He is willing to step in and provide you with a cure for depression.  In order to take advantage of God’s solution you must be willing to surrender the problem to Him.

Think of depression as a video tape that plays in an endless loop. The problems that create your despair play over and over again, reminding you of the pain and frustration your situation created. Jesus desires you to surrender that tape over to Him so that He can speak truth into your life about your worth to Him. 

When you ask God for His help and ask for His forgiveness for whatever things you have done wrong, He is free to speak forgiveness into your life and change the message your mind sends your body.  He can replace your sense of helplessness with the truth that you have incredible value and worth to God. In Christ, you have a new beginning.  In other words, He can lift you out of the depression that has overwhelmed you and give you both hope and a future.  Why not ask Him today?

-Bill Hennessy
 

Posted in: Depression, Featured / Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Feeling Depressed? There is Help!

When you are feeling down, encouragement can be nearly impossible to find.  Depression is a terrible companion.  People who battle depression know that emotions can bind someone more quickly than rope. 

If you are depressed, please see a doctor. Medical science hasn’t offered a reliable cure for depression, but effective treatments are available.  I have found that depression help works best when you involve hope too.

If you need help for depression, I have good news for you: God cares! In fact, Jesus Christ came to bring  you a message of hope and a new life.  No matter how depressed you are, He can lift you out of the despair you feel.  Better yet, He wants you to come and allow Him to help. 

I have heard it said that “depression is the mind telling the body it needs rest.”  Jesus promised rest when He said, “Come to me all of you who are weary and I will give you rest.”  That’s a great promise.  Imagine being able to lift depression off of your shoulders like it was dead weight.  You can begin by simply telling Jesus that you need help with depression.  He cares about you and desires what is best for your life. 

Why not ask Jesus into your life?  It is as simple as telling Him that you are sorry for whatever wrongs you have done and honestly telling Him that you need help with depression. He will answer your cry for help and begin a relationship with you that can change your life and offer you hope for the future.

Anyone can feel down, but it is Jesus who can lift that burden and restore your hope!

-Bill Hennessy

Posted in: Depression, Featured / Tagged: , , , , ,

Out-thinking Depression

 

Life can be complicated, so its no wonder that people face depression from time to time.  Knowing what to do about depression can be confusing. Is there help?

Yes!  Depression is sometimes defined as “the mind telling the body that it is tired.”  Medical science does not offer a cure for depression, but it can treat depression effectively. Medicines are available that can often really assist those who fight depression.  Is there something more that you can do to overcome feeling depressed?   

God’s Word (The Bible) offers real hope for those who need depression help. When we are feeling down, we tend to think about the things that have gone wrong in our lives. That focus can cause us to feel hopeless and stuck.  On the other hand, the Apostle Paul suggests that think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable and excellent.  (Phil 4:8)

That might seem difficult at first, but one great way to battle depression is to make a list of the things in our lives that are working right and remind ourselves that we are not stuck at all! (If you can’t think of anything that is working in your life, ask a friend or family member to help you make an accurate list. Depression can sometimes blind us to the good in our lives.

If you need help with depression, making a list of the things in your life that are going right changes what you dwell on in day to day living.  Once you break the cycle of negative thinking, you can begin to break free of depression.

- Bill Hennessy

Posted in: Depression, Featured / Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Overcoming Depression

Where can you find real help for depression?  Certainly, you should see a physician, but is that all you can do when you are depressed?  I believe you can do more, much more.

One definition of depression that helped me is: “Depression is the mind telling the body it is tired.”  The cure for depression then is tending to both the emotional and physical problems that you experience. It may also be a spiritual problem. Finding a cure for depression is never easy. One expert told me that it requires about the same time to heal depression as it does to create it. That’s because we begin memorizing the sad thoughts and feelings that we experience and play them back, even when we are not feeling down. That might sound discouraging, but there is hope. 

You can find depression help from a variety of trust-worthy approaches, speaking with a doctor, making a commitment to physical exercise and perhaps seeking a spiritual renewal.

If you are depressed, take heart. God’s Word, the Bible is filled with stories of people just like you who faced depression and found help.  The psalmist, King David, often faced depression. God accepted him as he was. He even called David “a man after God’s own heart.” David found comfort and help with depression through writing poetry and songs. He expressed the pain in his heart and reflected on the goodness of God.  You might also find it to be a real help with depression in your life.

-Bill Hennessy

Posted in: Depression, Featured / Tagged: , , , , ,

Help With Depression

There are a variety of reasons that we get depressed.  One frequently stated reason is when the realization hits us that the situation in which we find ourselves offers no hope whatsoever of changing.  Maybe our job is so routine that the monotony strangles the life and joy out of us.  It could be that our financial situation is so restricting that we believe we will never enjoy the finer things of life.  Or, here’s one that hits us all eventually … we look in the mirror one morning and realize that life experience has marked our face and our youth is but a faded memory; we are old!  Ugh!  The common factors in these scenarios, and others like it, are that (1) life is not the way we want it to be, (2) the possibility is strong that life will never be the way we want it to be, and (3) all hope of change is lost.  That’s when depression hits us over the head with a vengeance.

Matters are made worst when we encounter someone who wants to bring us the cure for depression by saying, “just get over it” or “you think you have it bad?  Wait ‘til you hear my story!”

Well, as one who has faced depression, I want to tell you that there is help with depression.  The journey to my recovery started by reading God’s Word, the Bible.  I found that books like Psalms and even Isaiah expressed clearly matters of my heart which I could not articulate adequately on my own.  The writers of these books felt like I felt, hurt like I hurt, and yet turned to God and found relief. 

The daily exercise of reading God’s Word was the first step to overcoming depression because it brought me hope.  Initially, hope flickered like a miniscule flame in a storm.  But, as I read God’s Word daily and trusted that the Lord would come to my rescue, hope grew in my heart and became my new reality.

-Rachel Joubert

 

Posted in: Depression, Featured / Tagged: , , ,

Losing Hope Brings Depression

 

Depression

There are a variety of reasons that we get depressed.  One frequently stated reason is when the realization hits us that the situation in which we find ourselves offers no hope whatsoever of changing.  Maybe our job is so routine that the monotony strangles the life and joy out of us.

It could be that our financial situation is so restricting that we believe we will never enjoy the finer things of life.  Or, here’s one that hits us all eventually … we look in the mirror one morning and realize that life experience has marked our face and our youth is but a faded memory; we are old! Ugh!  The common factors in these scenarios, and others like it, are that (1) life is not the way we want it to be, (2) the possibility is strong that life will never be the way we want it to be, and (3) all hope of change is lost.  That’s when depression hits us over the head with a vengeance.

 

Matters are made worst when we encounter someone who wants to bring us the cure for depression by saying, “just get over it” or “you think you have it bad?  Wait ‘til you hear my story!”

 

Well, as one who has faced depression, I want to tell you that there is help with depression.  The journey to my recovery started by reading God’s Word, the Bible.  I found that books like Psalms and even Isaiah expressed clearly matters of my heart which I could not articulate adequately on my own.  The writers of these books felt like I felt, hurt like I hurt, and yet turned to God and found relief.

 

The daily exercise of reading God’s Word was the first step to overcoming depression because it brought me hope.  Initially, hope flickered like a miniscule flame in a storm.  But, as I read God’s Word daily and trusted that the Lord would come to my rescue, hope grew in my heart and became my new reality.

Posted in: Depression, Featured / Tagged: , , ,