Week Two

It’s been almost two full weeks now since I started my six-week break, and I’m already feeling panicky about going back to work.  Big red flag.

For any of you who have never experienced clinical depression, I pray that you never do.  This is new for me, and I don’t like it one little bit.  If you hold the belief that depression is “just a sin problem,” you need to back up off that a little bit and consider that while the spiritual aspect always exists in depression, it is NOT the sole, only part that needs to be addressed.

I often remind my clients of the great Bible and/or historical characters who struggled with depression.  Charles Haddon Spurgeon is right at the top of the list, along with David Brainerd and Abraham Lincoln.  Biblical characters include David, Jeremiah, Jonah, and the Apostle John.  The one thing all these people have in common is a personality that is characterized by great gifts, great compassion, and great attention to detail.  Perfectionism is a part of the personality, along with introspection, loyalty, a “thinker/get it right” approach to life, and a tendency toward great creativity.  The dark side of this personality includes a negative outlook, critical spirit, pessimism, and an unforgiving spirit.  Please understand that no one encompasses every one of these traits, and we all have other temperaments as well as this one, which by the study I use is known as the Melancholy temperament. It is the personality that is most inclined to experience depression, although no one is invulnerable.

I’ve never considered this to be my outstanding temperament, although I am aware of many of these traits in my own make-up.  I believe that maturity, life circumstances, and some pretty tough events just recently have pushed this temperament to the forefront, and I feel as if I’m swimming through thick mud right now.

I went to my doctor’s office today to get both a flu shot and a shingles shot. The nurse who gave me the shots has become a friend, and she looked at my face and said, “What’s up?  You’re looking worn out.”  So I dumped all over her, and she handed me tissues and held my hand, took notes, talked to the doc, and the medication I probably should have started several weeks ago is now on my dining room table, waiting to be taken with my supper.

So now I have a question for  you, and I hope you’ll respond here on the blog.  Are you interested in learning about depression?  Would you like to know more? Are  you struggling, and feeling as if there’s nowhere to turn?  I’m considering opening a new, separate blog just for this topic, and I’d be interested to know how many of you would  like to read it.   There is so much already out there on this topic that I hesitate to pipe up; however, I feel I do have some insight to offer both professionally, spiritually, and personally.

Let me know what you think. It will help me make my decisions.