anti-depessants

Lea, I applaud your desire to rid yourself of the anxiety. It is your method that is off base.

We all struggle with this life, I am not claiming perfection for myself. I have my own problems. I know the answer, it is just obeying it.

 

Chuckles, I am for treating medical illnesses the proper way. I am not anti-medicine.

This is about "anti-depressants" though. Depression is a sin. When you treat a sin issue with "medicine", you have entered a different realm. I am willing to bet that your "certification" didn't include a single question about sin, did it?

Btw, a liberal does not accept inerrancy/inspiration of Scripture. Sorry.

 

Prayer and openness to God form the cornerstone for dealing with mental problems.

Consider two men with leg pain. One fell and his his leg last week, the other had it partially amputaed in a car accident. Both may choose to manage the pain by prayer and trying to avoid dwelling on the pain.

The second man will probably need to take some medication from time to time since his pain is more severe to begin with but that doesn't mean he gives up and becomes a drug addict.

 

Daniel,

No my test didn't. But I'd be willing to guess that I would outscore certain people on a theology/sin test!

What it comes down to is you deciding that your interpretaion of scripture is correct and that everyone else must live by your rules. This is like the idea that anyone who owns a bible and a suit can be an expert on the bible.

Once again what it comes down to is that you simply LACK the KNOWLEDGE about this issue to have meaningful discussion.

 

Gina,
Your quote implies that this subject has been dicussed here before. Can you give me the link? I missed it. Thanks </font>[/QUOTE]Yep. They usually end up getting locked and/or deleted rather quickly because they turn sour fast. There was one in May that is still around, although locked.
http://www.baptistboard.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/10/3981.html#000007

 

DD, what you seem no to understand is that there is a difference between anxiety that we can control and the anxiety that some of us feel but have no basis in reality and therefore we have no physical control over.

For instance, I can stop myself from voluntarily worrying constantly about what color to paint my house. I can say Lord I like this color and I'll leave it to you to handle the neighbors reaction.

I can't stop myself from the FEELING of anxiety that comes any time someone mentions finances. The mere mention of paying bills or buying groceries causes a physical reaction that I can't control. It doesn't matter that I have the resources to do both or that God has proven over and over his provision for me. I can have head and heart knowledge of both and still have the physical reaction of anxiety. It occurs even if it is not my bills/groceries being discussed. Just telling you this causes the reaction to occur. It is not something I can prevent or not do therefore it is not a sin for me to take something to prevent this physical reaction from happening.

I also suffer from huge mood swings. I can be fine and happy one moment and angry and shouting the next. There aren't any triggers here, the kids don't have to be misbehaving or anything of the sort for it to happen. It doesn't happen with most people, Christian or not. It is not normal for this to happen. But because I suffer from hormonal problems my moods shift. Tell me how taking an antidepressant to prevent the mood swings that accompany the hormonal shifts within my body is a sin?

I'm almost positive we all have had this discussion before. We'll have to disagree. Again.

 

I suffer from anxiety since beginning menopause and it comes on a regular basis. My head and heart know one thing but the feeling of impending doom or panic is completely separate from my heart and head.

I've only recently accepted a childs dose of a medication used for many things, including panic attacks and it's a non addictive medicine that can be used only on the days I cannot get past the overwhelming anxiety.

Worry about what we cannot control is one thing but anxiety over things that will never happen is another.

Here's a list of documented symptoms of menopause:
Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling
Bouts of rapid heart beat
Irritability
Mood swings, sudden tears
Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles
Loss of libido (see note)
Dry vagina, a general drying out that can include eyes, mouth, joints and skin. (see note)
Crashing fatigue
Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom (see note)
Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion
Disturbing memory lapses
Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing; urge incontinence (see note)
Itchy, crawly skin (see note)
Aching, sore joints, muscles and tendons (see note)
Increased tension in muscles
Breast tenderness
Headache change: increase or decrease
Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea
Sudden bouts of bloat
Depression (see note)
Exacerbation of existing conditions
Increase in allergies
Weight gain (see note)
Hair loss or thinning, head, pubic, or whole body; increase in facial hair
Dizziness, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance
Changes in body odor
Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head (see note)
Tingling in the extremities, (see note)
Gum problems, increased bleeding
Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, dry mouth, change in breath odor
Osteoporosis (after several years)
Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier
Tinnitus: ringing in ears, bells, 'whooshing' buzzing etc.


For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the earth for all to see. And he did this for you.
1 Peter 1:18-20 NKJV

 

I don't want this to turn nasty or anything. I have made my point. I have already said a thousand times that I am not against medical treatment for legitimate medical needs. I have been on several of these threads. If someone really wants my answer on something, please research the other topics. Thanks.

 

I suffered from a deep depression several years ago, although when the symptoms (profound sadness, despair, and hopelessness) came on me, I had no idea what was happening to me. In my case, it was a spiritual problem; when I got right with God the depression lifted and never returned. Thankfully, no drugs or doctors were involved. (The full story is a long one that I won't recount here.) I'm not saying that a chemical imbalance can't cause depression, or that depression is always a sin. I'm not competent to make that judgment. I'm only saying that in many cases a Christian resorts to drugs when it really isn't necessary. Medication might have lessened my despair temporarily, but it wouldn't have solved the larger issue. We should examine ourselves carefully and prayerfully before we turn to a doctor over the problem of depression.

 

Tangent,

That IS the best way to deal with it. Some people do however have biological depression.

 

Anti-depressants were never intended to heal. They help to alleviate the symptoms, whilst concentrating on the cause of the problem. When used judicially, they are a safe path and advised path to follow.

The Apostle Paul talked about his constant infirmity, his "thorn in the flesh". The Lord knows what it was, but the obvious is that prayer did NOT heal it, and Paul had to live with it.

We have reached a modern era, and we have many modern devices. We would be foolhardy not to make use of them, including modern medicine.

Finally, Mr, Spurgeon suffered bouts of depression that disabled him from preaching for weeks. I have never heard anyone belittle his spirituality or his biblical knowledge. He was a spiritual and theological giant.

God bless those who experience anxiety and have the good sense to seek assistance.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Please go back and read my response and you will see that I only answered the second half of your inquiry. I did not comment in that particular response as to its being OK.

If you had read my comments in other posts in this same thread, you would have seen that I agree with you except to say that when some of us have prayed with no positive response from God, we who are not strong in the faith, revert to those remedies which God has allowed man to discover, including myself.

HankD

 

Psalm 104_33

What I am basically asking is, is taking anti-depressants an admission that. "God, you are not working, I need a drug to make me better." Is taking paxil for depression the same as taking an aspirin for a headache?

No, if that were the case then diabetics would get hounded for taking insulin !

What happens if you are in a car crash and need a blood transfusion does the same arguement apply ?

A sinful world means things go wrong at physical, emotional and spiritual level.

Dont feel bad at all. Dr Luke didn't say he was giving up medicine because he would be interfering with God's work !

God bless
Doug_mmm

 

A good resource on this topic is www.nanc.org

There are some wonderful articles here and a list of nouthetic counselors in various areas.

 

Jim, I can say Amen to your post. I totally agree. Having worked in a mental hospital for 15 1/2 years, I can say that the human brain is a terribly complex organ. Chemical inbalances can cause so many different mental illnesses, it boggles the mind. Medical problems are no different in the brain than in the heart or kidneys. I don't see how a chemical inbalance that causes depression could be sinful anymore than a blocked artery in the heart or a kidney stone.
I have had migraine headaches since I was about 11 years old (which are caused by a chemical inbalance) and I would get depressed for a time after having one. Not only did the pain incapacitate me but it changed my mood for several days after the headache was over. I was not necessary depressed, just feeling really dragged out and wanted to be left alone. I now take medication for my headaches that works very well in about 30 minutes. When the headache is gone, so is the depression. After 46 years of suffering I call this my miracle drug.

I do know there are many people who make being depressed a way to get sympathy. There may be nothing physically wrong with them, but they have this need to be pitied. I do believe that there may be sin in this kind of self imposed depression as it is only a need for attention. They need to get out of themselves, ask God to forgive them and then get into doing something for other people.

 

Daniel, we are in fallen, decaying bodies. Depression is a result of that for some. It is different than just being anxious -- it can be from chemical imbalances or other biological causes as some have pointed out; or it can come from deeper issue or issues the person may not even be aware of. In some cases, it might even be a spiritual attack. It is not like the person can control it -- it is not just like having a "down" day.

Self-pity, being anxious, letting one's self wallow in being sad -- those are sins and can be dealt with. But there is a kind of depression that has nothing to do with those.

We should be compassionate towards those that are suffering -- believers and nonbelievers. We do not know the issues behind what they are going through.

 

I looked up depression in the bible and guess what? It wasn't there. How can you say something is a sin when the Bible doesn't. The Bible NEVER mentions what would now be called clinical depression. Yes, it speaks of a fallen countenance, and being anxious and such. We have all been through that and can easily understand someone saying that that is a result of sin. Jesus wept. Was it the result of sin that He was suffering through a negative emotion. When He said, "Father, let this cup pass from me", was He suffering from a negative emotion which was the result of sin to be repented of? No, of course not. Not all mental suffering is the result of sin .