Depression is fast becoming an epidemic with too many people world-wide suffering from its crippling affects. How do you recognize depression? What are the symptoms? When should you get help for yourself or a loved one? How do you as a caregiver or person in ministry walk alongside someone else who is suffering from the disease? Just Between Us (JBU) has put together some resources as a starting place to answer these questions.
DEPRESSION HELP RESOURCES
Books:
A Thankful Heart in a World of Hurt by Joni Eareckson Tada
It is hard to be grateful when you are looking into the jaws of mind-bending pain. Chronic illness, a heart attack, a terrible car accident, caring for a developmentally disabled child, facing betrayal and loneliness... these kind of tough times make you want to give up and throw in the towel. You try to overcome, but the exhaustion destroys your energy and hope. You try to pray, but the pain interrupts your concentration. The topics of fear and hopelessness, depression and suffering, loneliness and worry are issues that author, Joni Eareckson Tada, can speak to personally.
Dealing with Depression: Trusting God through the Dark Times by Sarah Collins
Today, depression is a common symptom doctors hear over and over again. And because we are so easily riddled with guilt and remorse, one in five people will suffer at least one major episode in their lifetime. But how does a Christian cope with it? In Dealing with Depression, author Sarah Collins reassures us that just like our physical health, our emotional health can experience good and bad intervals. Drawing from a Biblical and medical perspective, she reminds us that God feels our pain and through His grace we can be free of the darkness and despair to pursue a life of hope and happiness.
God Is Just Not Fair: Finding Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense by Jennifer Rothschild
Bestselling author and motivational speaker, Jennifer Rothschild lost her sight at the age of fifteen. Finding the strength to overcome through her faith, Jennifer rose above life’s challenges and launched a successful teaching and writing ministry, encouraging countless believers and seekers—alike to be overcomers. Then…five years ago…depression hit like an unexpected hurricane and shook her faith to the core. Through a time of wrestling with God and stumbling through the valley of doubt and disbelief, Rothschild came to the realization that she needed more than “Sunday school” answers; she needed a comforter and a relationship she could trust.
When Life Goes Dark by Richard Winter
This book is a helpful guide for those who find themselves, their loved ones or those they counsel vulnerable to depression. The book provides a framework both for understanding depression and rediscovering hope. Psychiatrist and theologian Richard Winter explores the complex medical and psychological issues surrounding depression. He sorts through recent scientific research on its biochemical and genetic causes and examines social and cultural factors. Winter also dispels common Christian misunderstandings of depression and looks at how biblical characters experienced severe depair. Throughout he offers ways to help the suffering. Even in the shadow of the valley of death, there is hope for healing an deliverance.
Breaking Through Depression: A Biblical and Medical Approach to Emotional Wholeness by Donald Hall
Depression affects a person mentally, spiritually, and physically, greatly impacting their lives and the people they love. This book is a must-read for anyone who suffers from this debilitating illness, or has a friend or family member affected by depression. With empathy and clear language, psychiatrist Donald Hall explains recent scientific discoveries about the role of chemicals in the brain, and how depression, like other illnesses, has symptoms and cures.
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns, M.D.
This book describes depression and mood disorders. It is focused on Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). In the updated edition, Dr. Burns adds an All-New-Consumer’s Guide to Anti-depressant Drugs as well as a new introduction to help you answer your questions about the many options available for treating depression.
Is Your Teen Stressed or Depressed? – A Practical and Inspirational Guide for Parents of Hurting Teenagers by Dr. Arch Hart and Dr. Catherine Hart Weber
Is your teen simply acting like a hormone-raging teenager, or actually suffering from too much stress or even depression? This book is a practical guide for parents and role models for teens who are struggling in life, in deep waters, or suffering through some form of pain. The book is also for those wondering if their teen is going through normal growth and challenges, or if he is at risk for more serious problems of stress, anxiety, depression, and related challenges and needs professional help.
Ministry with Persons with Mental Illness and Their Families by Robert H. Albers
A handbook for those caring for those afflicted and affected by mental illness. Those who are afflicted as well as those who are adversely affected by mental illness often live lives of “quiet desperation” without proper assistance. Most caregivers confronted with these illnesses in the work of ministry have no training or accurate information about mental illnesses, so frequently they do nothing, resulting in further harm and damage.
Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission by Amy Simpson
Amy Simpson calls the church to a renewed commitment to people who suffer from mental illness and to the families that suffer with them. Drawing on her own family’s history of mental illness, Simpson provides a bracing look at the social and physical realities of mental illness and explores new possibilities for ministry to this stigmatized group. Includes first-person stories of mental illness in and around church, provides information on various kinds of mental illness, provides concrete direction for churches that are ready to respond helpfully and meaningfully to mental illness.
Additional Books on Depression
Articles:
- Understanding Depression
- Living with Depression
- Warning Signs of Depression that Leads to Suicide
- Lost at Sea | Helping Someone with Depression
- Navigating a Mental Health Crisis
Websites:
