Depression & Christianity #1: An introduction

A couple of conversations recently have prompted me to realise that while Depression and its significance is oft misunderstood in society, some of the more unhelpful beliefs about Depression can be found within the Church itself.

Certainly the most unhelpful idea is the notion that,

Christians shouldn't take antidepressants, because 'depression' is not a legit medical condition, but rather a consequence of a lack of faith, and / or guilt over un-repented sin.

I'm not saying this is every Christian's attitude towards depression, but I know there are a few who are persuaded towards this attitude to at least some extent.

At our church Men's Camp last weekend (alas, I wasn't able to attend myself), a brave young soul had the courage to speak up about his experience with depression, and I understand that there were a few attendees who 'had their eyes opened' to something they'd never really understood before.

So, in my next few posts I'm hoping to share a little of my own experience, having been diagnosed with depression some years ago.

I hope to cover a little about

• What it really means to be Clinically Depressed, as opposed to more circumstantial depression, and how it affects a person's day to day life;
• Why people shouldn't dismiss Depression because they think it's part of the 'mind' and not the 'body';
• How antidepressants work, and their role in managing depression (the pharmacist in me has to come out sometime); and,
• Why Christians shouldn't look at antidepressants as 'quick-fix cop-outs', but rather see them as tools (in addition to prayer, Bible, etc) to help a Christian maintain a healthy spiritual life.

I'll aim to keep it simple and concise.

Hopefully it'll be good.

Comments and questions welcome.

The magic of Post-its

Post-it wars between companies across Europe are wreaking havoc with their office windows, and giving passers-by something to talk about.

All pretty cool, but the best thing about this article was the link to the stop-motion video made by this guy, Lui, below.

The hospital I work at has plenty of blank walls around its facility. Perhaps it's time to have a little fun...

The 'R' word

Society has been desensitising itself to strong language for decades.


20 years ago, Grandma would have washed my mouth out for saying 'Blast it!' in her kitchen.


30 years ago, 'Drat!' probably would have elicited a similar response. (I wasn't alive then, but that wouldn't have been any excuse.)


50 years ago, you'd be rapped over the knuckles for forgetting to use an apostrophe when saying the word 'It's'. (I hear English teachers were really quite strict)


Even in the last 15 years, the 'F' word has gone from the height of shock-language, to a more-colourful feature of everyday language. Consequently the 'C' word soon took its place, but is also now appearing 'tolerated' in the more private of conversational circles.


The other word that appears to be following suit is the 'R' word.


Rape.


Unlike your average curse word, Rape used to mean something. Specifically, one person (usually a man) forcibly having sexual intercourse with another person, against their will, especially with a threat of violence.


Today, however, you can be raped on the sports field (often entire teams can be involved), raped by an exam (I'm not entirely sure how this works), and even have your Facebook profile's newsfeed raped (a experience which has been fondly dubbed as  being 'Fraped').


Call me a traditionalist, but I'm all for words like 'Rape' being preserved to keep their original, and incomparably-solemn meaning.


If you've ever spoken to a victim of a rape or even sexual assault, you've probably felt overwhelmed as you hear about their feelings of hurt, anger, guilt, personal violation and fear - fears which transcend into their everyday lives and rob them of their sense of safety in any public (or even private) place. You might have shed a tear as they've related how they now feel emotionally and physically damaged, broken and used.

Image from ehow.com

Years ago I did have that conversation with a Rape victim (a real one). And I can tell you: at the end of it I reckon I still had no idea how that person feels, even many years after what may have just been a single incident.


To describe such trivial events as losing a soccer match, or finding somebody's made thirteen consecutive posts on your Facebook wall, with the same word given to describe my friend's experience is purely callous in its ignorance.


Of course, there is ignorance, and then there is the downright malicious, like the Facebook 'Page' I saw earlier this evening, which a contact of mine had decided to 'Like'.

 'Wanna play the rape game?', 'no', 'that's the spirit!' [sic]

[Sic], in this case, sums it up perfectly. And it describes the what-was-then 7 809 people who had decided that it was a page worth 'Liking'. Not to mention additional groups of 150, 10 563 and 45 208 individuals who had decided to support three other pages just like it (I didn't expand to look at any more search results).


No doubt some will read this and think I'm overreacting, but frankly I have a few tender spots which twinge when I hear others' heartaches being thrown around in such a facetious manner.


Of course, we are all guilty of something like this, whether it's mistreating 'Rape'; or using the words 'Fag', or 'Gay' as generic pejoratives; or even 'Fat'.


Please: Let's think twice before we speak. We never really know our audience.

Ignorance + Arrogance. A dangerous combination

Ignorance is a dangerous thing. I think we can all agree on that.
You don't know that the stovetop is hot, you touch it, you get burnt.

And arrogance, well, it's just plain annoying. Unless I'm being arrogant. Then it's ok.

But put them together and you have the potential for something more lethal than a Justin Bieber concert.

And what's worse than a person who has no idea about something, but convinced he's right?

Well, probably that same person who has no idea about something, trying to convince somebody else he's right.

We've all been there: bosses, colleagues, siblings, Kanye West. The debates are never pleasant and usually by the end somebody's bleeding from somewhere.

Far too much arrogance and pride gets in the way of what would otherwise be sound, civilised debate in today's culture.

So what's the best strategy to conquering this synergistic nightmare? I say divide and conquer.

Let's leave arrogance and pride aside and keep discussions rational. Intelligent. Constructive.

Let's leave aside preconceived notions of prejudice, bigotry, hatred, and your mum's weight, and accept the fact that we're fortunate enough to live in a free society where we can all share our ideas on what we think society should look like.

And if we don't agree, that's ok! We can still be friends!

As long as you accept that I'm better than you, we'll get along just fine.

Trolling for Trolls

I confess that trolls have never been a big problem on my blog, mainly because I rarely write anything.

Of course, there are the odd jabs I make in various political directions which have earned me some unwanted and unpleasant attention in the past, but it's all part and parcel of putting your opinions in the public forum.

Still, it helps to understand the different types of trolls, and their general mentality. I've recognised a few in this list, which journalist and blogger James Delingpole has put together.