Minor Causes of Depression
Can Anyone Heal from Depression?
These minor causes of depression by themselves don’t likely cause depression, but they are on the slippery slope that leads to the major causes of depression. So addressing these minor causes will help, but addressing them alone will likely not lead to healing depression, because at least one major cause remains.
It is my prayer and mission to help anyone who suffers from depression.
My list of minor causes of depression includes:
1) a major loss or hurt unprocessed or mourned
2) comparing self to others or coveting;
3) perfectionism
4) denying ourselves good things
5) avoiding change
6) lacking exercise.
If any of these things happen and continue in our lives, we drive ourselves toward at least one of the major causes of depression. What are those major causes of depression? They are:
1) self-isolation
2) pessimism
3) prolonged sadness
4) anxiety
5) addiction
Healing depression won’t happen just by knowing what the causes are. Instead we must do something about these things if they exist in our lives. Some of these causes are not necessarily due to sin or any wrongdoing, but many of them are. So let’s take a view of how they might manifest in our lives.
Unprocessed Loss or Hurt
The unprocessed loss could be a death of a family member or a friend, a relationship break-up or loss of a job. When we don’t move on from these events in our lives, we remain stuck in the past, wishing for it to return. It is called denial, which is the first stage of grief. That’s just the beginning. Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross says there are five stages: denial/isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. We can go through these stages in any order, even repeating some, but if we don’t finally end with acceptance we have not processed the loss(es).
Jesus says we are blessed if we mourn, because we’ll be comforted. Perhaps the reason He doesn’t say what we must mourn is that we should mourn any kind of loss that affects us. So whenever we need comfort from loss or pain we are to mourn it because through the process we will find comfort.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 ESV
Jesus also did this when his cousin John the Baptist died. It’s half a verse between receiving the news and moving on to feeding the 5000 so He mourns quickly. Reasonably Jesus may do this so quickly because He is the second person of the Trinity in constant contact with the Father. It is even more reasonable that as God He knows how to do this.
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
Matthew 14:13 ESV
This is not the only time when the Bible tells about someone who mourns a death.
Coveting
Desiring someone’s things does not hurt the other person unless we actively try to take those things. It’s even more harmful when the desiring is of someone’s spouse. Regardless of all of that, this command says not to covet. God already said not to steal in verse 15, so He’s not talking about that. Like many of God’s commandments the benefit in not committing these sins is not merely avoiding to offend the other person. It’s about maintaining a pure heart, because going around coveting everyone else’s relationships and material possessions will rob us of our focus on the things we have and make us ungrateful for the things we have.
I try to remember that there will be times in our lives when we realize that we have a gift no one else has, and it will balance the hundred other times when we wished we had someone else’s gift.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Exodus 20:17 ESV
Read Also: How to Pray Effectively With the Mind
Perfectionism
There’s no one who ever lived a perfect life, except Jesus. Even in His death, He did that to achieve the purpose given to Him by the Father to die for the forgiveness of our sins. Trying to be perfect is different from believing we are perfect. Both of these ideals can harm us and push us closer to the edge of the slippery slope leading to depression than the other minor causes I speak of here. Why? Perfectionism is more than mere striving to be the best we can be. It is the false idea that that we can be perfect; perfection is a complete impossibility. It is also a form of salvation by works, which is not the will of God. Adam and Eve were created perfect, but their sin ruined all of that for all mankind. Because of that sin a domino effect descends on our lives leaving inherent cracks that require full-time healing. The moment we believe we are healed uncovers more to be healed. When we realize that we are incapable of being perfect and need God’s saving grace, we will be free from this perfectionism.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV
Godly Rewards and Pleasure
When we put ourselves in positions that provide a godly reward, we experience pleasure. Volunteering at church gives us the opportunities to serve others and receive these kinds of rewards and pleasure.
In John 13 washes the disciples’ feet to set an example to serve others. After He does that,
He tells that we are blessed if we do as He does. That blessing which comes from God is a reward which cannot be obtained in any other way,
Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
John 13:16-17 ESV
Unwilling to Change
The depression experience is a most difficult trial. But if we expect life to change or improve, we need to make some changes in our lives. In the most drastic of examples, if we identify that we are on a destructive path, we need to change our activities. One of the areas of our lives that can be important to change is the company we keep. If there are people in our lives who have a negative influence on us, we need to consider changing those relationships.
Read Also: Success Mindset
Lack of Exercise
While the lack of exercise may not directly cause depression, an active lifestyle can ease the symptoms of depression. I’m not sure of the psychology behind why this works, but I have experienced it in my own life.
Gaining Freedom from Depression
by Stephen D. Edwards
Published by Stephen D. Edwards