I am not ashamed to admit this but I also don’t talk about it often. What I am referring to here is my struggle with depression. Last year, I wrote a post about this. Two and half years ago I was diagnosed with depression. I now know that I have struggled with depression for most of my life and will probably struggle with it for the rest of my life. I know that some people have different feelings and thoughts about depression than I do and I am okay with that. I also know that many people struggle with depression and I want to be an encouragement and support to them.
The biggest thing that I have learned these past two and half years is that my thinking is a huge trigger to my depression. What I mean by this is that what I think will affect my actions. i.e. If I believe that all conflict is bad then I will avoid conflict like the plague. What I am learning to do is to take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5). This means that I need to stop unrealistic and unfair thinking and replace it with realistic thinking. Here are some examples of unrealistic and unfair thinking: unrealistic, negative thoughts about your situation; unrealistic and unfair, negative thoughts about yourself; and unrealistic, negative thoughts about your future. Here is what realistic thinking looks like: accurate about your situation, seeing things clearly as they are; fair about yourself, looking in a balanced way at the positive and negatives in your life; and accurate about your future, not exaggerating bad outcomes.
Now, I need to make sure that I am not misunderstood here. The goal here is not to just think “positive thoughts” all day long. This is only kidding ourselves that nothing bad will happen. Changing our thinking doesn’t mean replacing unrealistic and unfair negative thoughts with positively distorted thinking (i.e. everyone loves me, nothing bad will ever happen, I will always get what I want.) That point is that thinking in an unrealistic way, whether positive or negative, causes us to feel and react inappropriately. The aim is to evaluate our lives in a realistic manner. The goal is fair and realistic thinking. This means being fair and realistic about yourself (paying attention to good qualities and strengths as well as problems), about your current situation (weighing the positive and negative aspects of your life accurately) and about your future (not exaggerating the likelihood of very negative outcomes).
I believe that these concepts are very biblical. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:21-25 “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Tomorrow I want to share four steps that I have learned to help change my thinking.
What are your thoughts on this subject?
Rather than "think positive," I redirect my thoughts specifically to the Lord. I think of verses which inspire me. One that often pulls me out of slump is Isaiah 26:3-4:
You will keep in perfect peace the one stayed upon You,
because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever.
For Yah, the Lord, is the Rock of Ages [Everlasting strength].
I think it's also a great idea to constantly remind yourself what God thinks of you. People are great at reminding of us our faults. Christ died for those faults and He reminds us whose we are.
Amen Anne! I totally agree! We need to focus on the truth (God's Word) and not the lies that we tell ourselves or what others tell us.
Very true Matt! I am very strong believer of encouraging people to understand who they are in Christ. This helps us replace those faulty views of ourselves that we have and others have of us with what Christ truly thinks about us.
What we think does directly affect / control our actions. Plus, what we think affects what we feel. So controlling our thoughts and keeping them realistic is of the utmost importance in being healthy (in body, mind, and heart).
Good points about thinking "positive" — being unrealistic and unfounded in our thinking just leads to inappropriate feelings and actions. Just being positive isn't the solution — we must look at ourselves and our circumstances in faith, according to the Word of God. There's a big difference there.
I love this approach! Depression is huge and debilitating…I'm looking forward to what you are going to share!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Chad!
Thanks Bridget!
When I think about negative thoughts about other people or myself, I also feel really depress. But when I tend to focus on JESUS and his many promises, I feel great. But sometimes again I tend to think about those negative thoughts, especially when you are surrounded by people who keeps on reminding you (that this how he acts, this is how he thinks, this is his personality) in a negative way…..It's pretty hard when you do not have people around you that encourages you positively. Sometimes you'll feel lonely, sometimes you don't.
But in the end no matter what I think, no matter what people think…If I focus my mind on the Bible and the teachings of the LORD. I know I will never fail. Because life will never be empty and you will always have a light thru Jesus Christ.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts gudo!