Geoff Thomas, who has written for "Banner Of Truth" says it this way: "Times of sadness are a normal part of the Christian life." He goes on to list several instances in the Scriptures, i.e. Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and the prophet Jeremiah lamenting the state of God's people and the destruction of that very same city.
Does it not break our hearts today when we see the wholesale rejection of our Lord and a turning away from God's Word as the final authority in the affairs of men?
Dr. Theodore Darylmple, in an article written for the Daily Express says it this way: "No one is unhappy these days, but everyone is depressed." Note: I have been given written permission to quote from and include some of his writings in this article.
In my ministry as a shepherd I have dealt with many, many folks who have struggled with issues in their lives and have identified their problem as one of depression. Dr. Dalrymple sounds a warning against "the tendency of medical science to apply drugs to block natural human emotions."
He readily admits that depression does in fact exist, but he says, "I must have heard hundreds or even thousands of people say that they were depressed but only two or three admit that they were unhappy (and one of those was in prison)."
He notes that those he characterized as depressed were relatively few in number. Their malady was incapacitating. They often neglected themselves in regards to eating and drinking properly. They were extremely subdued and often felt guilty "for no good reason." In earlier times such folk were often assigned to asylums and would spend days upon end "sitting on a chair at a table set against a wall..."
Here's the problem: the replacement of the word "unhappiness" by the word "depression" turns a normal human experience into a medical condition which is "to be treated and cured by doctors."
Many cases of unhappiness are understandable: a recently widowed person misses their spouse; a vacation has to be canceled due to illness or other circumstances. You get the picture.
From the article again: "Unhappiness usually arises from the situation in which people find themselves, either through circumstances beyond their control, or as a result of their own choices ... "
The replacement of the word 'unhappiness' with the word 'depression' has "turned the world into a great hospital. If unhappiness is an illness, then why not every other human experience as well?" Many doctors, instead of trying to find out what it is that is making the patient unhappy hands the patient a pill. Since pills are handed out for illnesses, the patient now has confirmation from the doctor that he is indeed ill. He does not have to try and deal with the circumstances that are making him unhappy...." Deep, huh?
Here's another problem: the effectiveness of anti-depressants against most forms of unhappiness is slight, if it exists at all.
Another quote from the article: Drug companies feared at first that there would not be enough seriously depressed people to make the manufacture of anti-depressants profitable. But the abandonment of the word unhappy for the word depressed came to their rescue. "
So, I ask again: Are you depressed or are you just unhappy?
Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz jokingly suggests that if unhappiness is treated as an illness, than happiness should be as well."
If you're happy, perhaps you should try and figure out what's wrong with you.
Hit me back.
