How to Overcome Depression

　

Many people, and many Christians even, struggle with depression. This should not be. Christians should be the happiest people alive. Why? Because we know we are saved and sanctified in the blood of Jesus. Amen. So how can you get over depression and have the joy of the Lord? Read on. :)



Steps
First of all, know that depression can be an evil spirit. Evil spirits cannot oppress us or control our minds and emotions unless we let them. They may feed you lies like "You deserve to be depressed." or "You deserve to feel sorry for yourself and only think about yourself and be selfish with all you have gone through." or "You deserve to be bitter at that person for awhile." But don't believe the lies! Go out and love some people and your depression will go away faster. If you sit and have conversations like these with demons and agree with them your depression will only get worse. You may think those thoughts are you own, but no, they are thoughts Satan is putting in your mind to keep you defeated, hopeless and lifeless. If you give your consent to any of these lies, evil spirits will then dominate your thoughts and emotions. You are then giving Satan "a foothold" as the Bible calls it, over your mind. Like a spider, he starts to weave a web of fogginess in your mind so you stop seeing God's truth as much. You become more numb. He starts to subdue any drive or ambition you may have had. He sucks the life right out of you with his poisonous thoughts. DON'T let him.

Secondly, DO SOMETHING. A big cause of depression is doing nothing. Nothing to contribute to the world, nothing to make the lives of other people better etc. Depression is very self-focused. Your number one thought when depressed is, "What can I do for myself today? How can I make myself feel better?" But that is asking the wrong question. That is what leads to all kinds of problems like over-eating and over-spending etc. In trying to make yourself happy, happiness will only elude you more and more. You need to instead ask yourself, "What can I do to make someone else happy today." Then you will become happy. Just as Jesus said, "Whoever wants to save his life will loose it, but whoever looses his life for my sake will find it." Amen. It is only when you loose your life for others that you will find life.

Thirdly, stop being selfish. Think about other people. The more you think about only yourself, the more miserable you will feel. If you are Christian, this is probably because the Holy Spirit is trying to convict you to be more selfless and love others more. If you are not Christian, the Bible says that the law of God is written on our hearts. Everyone innately knows that they need to love others, so when we don't do that, and our focus is only on ourselves, we will always feel miserable. The goal should be to think as little of yourself as possible. Take care of your needs of course, but don't be consumed with what you need or want. Think about what other people need or want. Then you will find happiness.

Reach out to others in some way. The more you stay isolated and alone, the more depressed you will feel. We were made by God for relationships. We are meant to have friendships with other people. So get out there and make some friends. There is a great quote that says, "If you want to have a friend, you have to BE a friend." Don't start to think, "Well no one is being friends with me." YOU have to go be friends with people. You are not a victim. You are in control of your own future. You are in control of how many friends you have and what you do with your time. That is another key in depression, realizing that you DO have control over things. You are not powerless. You CAN change things if you really want to. So change some things, make some friends, and you will be happier. :)

Start a hobby to fight your depression. Do something other than watch TV or movies all the time. Do something to make the world a better place. Some suggestions are writing articles on here if you want. Writing a blog. Writing on Facebook. Self-publishing books on Amazon. (There is a link at the bottom to do that.) Getting pets to take care of. Learning how to cook new things. Making jewelry. Something fun to do that will bless others is making "Jesus Packets." You can make bracelets to put in these packets with candy, Bible tracts, cross necklaces or whatever you want. Then wrap them up as presents and leave them everywhere you go for other people to pick up. Giving things away greatly helps with depression. Being generous with your time, money or talents always helps. Always give yourself away.

Be Positive. Have hope. Have faith. As Christians we are called to be people of faith. But a great lack of faith comes along with depression. God wants us to be hopeful about our future. He said, "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." Amen. And always remember the verse, "God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him." Life might be hard for a time, but in the end, God will work it all out for good. Maybe the trial you are going through now will give you a greater testimony later on, a greater story to tell others of how God helped you overcome something. Don't despair because things are hard for now. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel and "this too shall pass." "Sorrow may last for the night but joy comes in the morning." Amen! I read once that we cannot know happiness without knowing sadness. We cannot truly be thankful for the good times unless we have been through some hard times. Amen? So try to see the good in everything. Always look for the positive. "Every cloud has a silver lining." Look for what that silver lining might be in every situation, and you won't be as depressed. :)
Increase your joy by watching funny videos or looking at cute and funny pictures. There is a great page on Facebook called "The Clean Humor Page" that you might enjoy :) There is also a great series of videos on YouTube called "Walk on the Wild Side" made by BBC. Check them out. They are very funny.


Tips
A big tip to fight depression is to try to be around happy people as much as possible. Cut all the negative people out of your life. Or if you can't cut them out, encourage them to be more positive. If you lead an example of being positive, they might catch on and start to be more positive too. :)


Warnings
Don't take over the counter medication to become more happy. Pills have a crippling effect. They cause you to become dependent on them until you absolutely need them. There is a theory that they actually stop your body from producing serotonin naturally as long as you are taking it synthetically in a pill. Then if you stop taking the pill, your body might not kick in and produce the serotonin on it's own anymore because it has forgotten how to do so, in a sense. Be very careful of any medication to try to alter your emotional state. Just be pro-active and change things in your life yourself, rather than trying to take a pill to fix everything. It probably won't fix everything anyways. The main thing that will improve your emotional state is doing what Jesus said, giving yourself away. Amen. :)