Depression: It's Not Just Mind Over Matter, But A Mind-Body-Spirit Condition

For many years, I battled severe depression, along with a mishmash of other symptoms that accompanied my decade-long battle with Lyme disease. My experience through its inferno has led me to believe that it's one of the most life-altering and devastating conditions there is.

If you have or have had depression, you know what I'm talking about. The world appears to you in shades of grey and black, instead of as a palette of bright colors. You see people laughing but you can't reach out and grab their joy. Around you, the world functions, while you struggle just to get out of bed. And you cry for hours- daily, or at least multiple times a week. You think something must be wrong with you because you estimate that most "normal" people probably only cry once a month, if that. You lose hours, days, and even entire weeks of productivity because you can't seem to get it together enough to do the basic stuff of life.

If you struggle with this condition, my heart goes out to you!

Enough said. I've been there, and I know how it crushes the spirit. Perhaps what hurts even more is when well-meaning folks around you admonish you to just "think more positive" or to "just get into right relationship with God." As if you don't want to!

What's more, depression is often touted to be either a physical, emotional or spiritual problem- depending on your affiliation. If you belong to the church, you're told that you just need to get into right relationship with God. If you visit a mental health specialist, the focus might be on your childhood wounds. If you go to a doctor, you're given drugs to "fix" your biochemistry.

But if you're like me, you've learned that depression can be a multi-faceted condition, caused not only by trauma or separation from God, but also infectious disease and a toxic environment.

In my case, counseling, EMDR and other psychotherapies seemed only to make me aware of my shortcomings, while the admonitions to "think more positive" (in the many colors that message came dressed up as) frustrated me and caused me to believe that I could never be good enough.

Not that these strategies don't work. For some people, they do, but my recovery has been more complicated. For instance, giving my brain and body the right nutrients has mattered- big time! (I'll talk about these in my next blog post). I have also discovered that thinking the right thoughts is sure a heck of a lot easier when you have enough serotonin and dopamine to super-charge your cells- and this stuff doesn't come from a pill.

I have also discovered that my relationship with God matters, and not only for receiving guidance for a way out of my grief-laden days. Over the years, He has daily spoken truths to me, which have served to "reprogram" my mental computer, which had been warped from a lifetime of lies that I'd believed about my worth and identity.

Then came the love of others; a few select strong, gentle and loving folks whom I believe God sent, to lift me out of the pit and nourish me with their love and unwavering devotion to me and my wellbeing. The love of God through others is one of the most powerful healing forces there is. If you don't have anyone in your life that can love you, come hell or high water, sunshine or rain, ask God to bring such people to you! (Yes, they are out there). In the meantime, I encourage you to cultivate a relationship with God, just like you would a friend. Anyway, sometimes God is the only friend you have when tragedy scares all the others away. I spent many years in that place, too.

Finally, God sent a powerful minister- one of many in my life- to break generational curses off me and my family line. You'd be surprised by how much bondage and suffering is caused by demonic bondage. Over the years, I've learned that the spirit realm is more real and powerful than the natural realm, and that depression can often be the result of ancestral sins that get downloaded into your DNA. Once I understood this, it unlocked a lot of doors to my freedom.

In future blog posts I will be describing some of these concepts more in-depth, as it's too much for one wee little message. For now, I just want to encourage you to seek God for answers, and know that there is hope, no matter how bad it gets. My sob sessions lasted for years, but they are now more of an occasional thing, rather than my daily food. God is above all of our problems, and when we don't have answers, He does. We don't need to dig and research, try to be good, or earn favor with Him, in order to receive His help. We simply need to humbly come to him, knowing that He cares for us, and will work with us to bring about healing, from depression, and all that ails us.

Healing Body, Mind and Spirit with God and Medicine

If there's anything I'm known for, it's probably as a medical writer on Lyme disease. Indeed, three of my eight books are about Lyme disease. I wrote about Lyme disease for a long time because the disease caught me in its clenches and for years, I wanted nothing more to free myself and others from it.

I'm on a different path now, because God has expanded my vision to see myself and others healed, not only from the insidious hell of Lyme, but all that accompanies it, and the multiple systemic dysfunctions, toxins, heart-sickness and spiritual brokenness that many of us who have suffered from chronic illness have had to contend with.

Besides, as the title of this blog indicates, God has shown me that walking in wholeness is first and foremost, a matter of the spirit. Our spirits have been given charge over our souls and bodies, so when the spirit is well, the emotions and body often follow.

In this blog, I will be sharing what more than 12 years of suffering, experience, research and seeking God have taught me about healing- in the spiritual, emotional and physical realms.

Medical knowledge is helpful, but herbs, vitamins and hormones don't always get us to where we need to be. Neither does an awareness of our dysfunctional thought patterns or our practice of psychological principles or positive thinking. Sometimes, a first-hand encounter with Our Creator, or an embrace from a friend, to show us that we are unconditionally loved- are what will heal us more than any medical treatment.

But healing is a process, and the vitamins, herbs, counseling and whatnot are all essential pieces of the puzzle so that we can get to the next stage in our journey. Sometimes, it's the amino acids and hormones, for instance, that give us the mental power and motivation to be able to pray, but it's the communion with God that gives us hope, direction, purpose and ultimately the ability to heal, no matter the method or medicine that He uses.

Supernatural healing miracles rarely bring anyone to wholeness, because we still have to eat our peas and carrots, and walk in the ways of God's Spirit to be well- but miracles are for real and I believe that 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ became an atoning sacrifice for humanity, dying on a Cross so that we would have the opportunity to walk in greater freedom here on the earth. The Bible says that He came to earth to set the captives free, and it wasn't just from the captivity of death and sin, but also sickness.

As Isaiah prophesied in the Bible, many hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth, "By His Stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53-3-5). There is incredible power for healing in the Word of God- the Word being Jesus Christ and the Bible- as well as in a personal relationship with Him. But it's not about rules or religiosity- it's about knowing who He is for us, and how much He loves us, no matter our color or creed. In this blog, I hope you will taste the goodness of Jesus Christ, as you also benefit from what God has taught me about medicine and healing miracles. God bless and hope to "see" you here again soon.