Am I sinning by being depressed?

[Never thirsty!]

I still feel quite homesick but not to the point that death is the only way to end my suffering I just feel really, really, really sad I had to call off at work because I felt so sad I slept until 7:30 pm last night and I wasn't even rested this morning I just want to know if I'm sinning either way I'll get help

[Peanut]

No. There is nothing in the Bible that states depression is a sin nor can it be implied from anything. Elijah, for instance, seems to show signs of depression after Mount Carmel and he is not reprimanded for it in anyway.

[Lynna]

No. There is nothing in Christianity that says you have to be happy all the time.

[DaughterOfZion]

How can you be "sinning" for a common biological problem? We still don't really know how depression works, but we do know it seems to have something to do with chemical reactions in the brain. There are also genetic links with depression, if your parents had clinical depression you're more likely to experience it at some point. If you could magically make yourself "undepressed" there wouldn't be as high a rate of suicide would there? Quit moping around the internet and go see someone.

[Lynna]

How can you be "sinning" for a common biological problem? We still don't really know how depression works, but we do know it seems to have something to do with chemical reactions in the brain. There are also genetic links with depression, if your parents had clinical depression you're more likely to experience it at some point. If you could magically make yourself "undepressed" there wouldn't be as high a rate of suicide would there? Quit moping around the internet and go see someone.

Um, excuse me if I partially disagree with this? It's true that biology and genetics can be a factor, but not half as much as trauma and hurtful experiences/circumstances.
But with that still in mind, Neverthirsty, I would also encourage you to get help if you feel that this depression is something more than a passing homesickness or loneliness.

[Xeno]

Possible Causes of Depression
By Josepha Cheong, M.D., Michael Herkov, Ph.D., and Wayne Goodman, M.D.


Recent research has consistently shown that depression is rarely due to a single event or condition. Rather, the development of depression is a complicated cognitive, behavior, hormonal and biochemical process.
Genetic factors may create a predisposition or vulnerability in the person for depression. It is clear that depression, like many other illnesses tends to run in families. For example, a child with one parent with depression has a 10 to 13 percent increased chance of developing depression. Whether this vulnerability results in depression may depend on the person's life stress, early family life, coping strategies and social support.

A chemical imbalance of biological factors including hormones and other substances naturally found in the body (including estrogen, serotonin, cortisol and melatonin) plays a role in triggering many forms of depression. For example:

Changing levels of estrogen during a woman's life are linked to several forms of depression unique in women.
Serotonin is a brain chemical that carries messages between brain cells.
The rate of serotonin synthesis is 52 percent higher in men than in women, and researchers are investigating if this partly explains why the depression is two to three times more common in women.
Women and men typically produce different levels of melatonin, a chemical involved in regulating many body functions in relation to natural light (example: tanning of skin) and investigators are looking at whether this plays a role in Seasonal Affective Disorder which affects women three times more often than men.
Ongoing scientific research is trying to understand better how these and other biological factors provoke depressive episodes so that, in the future, depression can be prevented, better treated or cured.

The reaction to stress in our lives has unseen negative impacts on our bodies and contributes to the development of a wide range of diseases including heart disease, the common cold and depression. Stress or the reaction to it may contribute to chemical imbalances associated with depression. Perhaps people with a family history of depression have inherited a greater susceptibility to develop depression because of the way their bodies have been genetically programmed to react to stressful events.

Depression has been reported since the beginning of civilization and each generation has sought to understand what causes the debilitating condition. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, in 4 B.C. thought that depression was due to excessive black bile in the spleen. The ancient Egyptians believed that this black bile was due to the influence of the planet Saturn (a "saturnine" mood is a dark, unhappy one). Throughout history depression has been blamed on melancholic temperament (example: Aristotle), demons, damaged paternal sperm (example: Ishaq Ibn Imran) and anger turned inward (example: Freud).

While our understanding of what causes depression has changed and will continue to progress, the disease has affected young and old, rich and poor, famous and common throughout history.

[Okami]

As I was told by a hospital chaplain a few months back, "Issues of mental health have nothing to do with one's faith." meaning, God wasn't angry at me for being severely depressed and deeply suicidal. Mood disorders when caused by trauma or genetics can hardly be a sin when it's in a person's lifestyle as a way to deal with whatever's going on.

[Yuki-Anne]

I still feel quite homesick but not to the point that death is the only way to end my suffering I just feel really, really, really sad I had to call off at work because I felt so sad I slept until 7:30 pm last night and I wasn't even rested this morning I just want to know if I'm sinning either way I'll get help

...and NO.

Read the Old Testament. I'd say at least an eighth of it was written by deeply depressed people. There's a freaking book called "Lamentations," which is probably the old King James-y word they used before they invented the word "depression." Jeremiah is known as "the Weeping Prophet." Psalms is like the bipolar book of the Bible. One chapter it's like, "Praise the Lord, everything is awesome, the earth is awesome, the sky is awesome, the birds are awesome, praise the Lord!" and the next it's like, "Why won't you help me, Lord, I'm just crying all day and all night and everything sucks!"

Seriously, read through the Psalms. I promise from my own experience with depression, there is a TON of relatable stuff in there. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." If "crushed in spirit" isn't exactly what being depressed feels like, I don't know what is.

Bottom line: being depressed is hard enough to deal with without believing that God is condemning you for not being happy. I mean, Jesus himself said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Nowhere does He say, "Be happy all the time or I'll be seriously upset with you."

So by all means, get help. Go see a counselor or a doctor or at the very least confide in a friend. But don't for one second let yourself think that God is judging you because you're not happy right now.