On Monday, August 11th, Robin Williams took his own life in his
ocean side home in Tiburon, California, by hanging. Asphyxia. He had been suffering from deep depression, for which he had sought treatment in the past.
Depression is a terrible condition. I use the word "condition," even though most psychologists and psychiatrists call it a disease, just like the common cold.
I did my undergraduate work in psychology. I am by no means a scholar on the subject, nor have I practiced psychology outside of the routine kinds of things people tend to engage in. I do have some opinions on the matter based on what I learned in school and what I have studied since then.
There are some very, very cruel Christians who try to tell people that if they just had enough faith, no ailments would befall them. Every one of them is totally, insufferably wrong. Please don't come at me with some conglomeration of Scriptures to try to "prove" otherwise. I have read and considered them all. I know what is in Scripture and I know how Scripture should be interpreted and applied.
Depression is a condition that has its roots in a person's response to certain stimuli. Perhaps a bad relationship with a parent, an emotional trauma, or a drastic change in the person's "status quo." There are literally hundreds of things that can bring on depression.
It usually starts mildly, resembling "the blues." Everybody (even totally committed Christians) experiences "the blues" from time to time, one or more times in his/her lifetime. On occasion, "the blues" persist and a small, hardly detectable change in brain chemistry occurs. That, in and of itself, may or may not lead to depression.
Sometimes series of negative happenings occur in a person's life that are depressive in nature and that add to those hardly detectable brain chemistry changes, multiplying their effect. Then those changes begin to be detectable. At this point, if the symptoms are recognized and dealt with through effective behavior modification training and/or medical intervention, they might be overcome and not become an issue.
At other times, they tend to pile on and the sufferer is unable to receive relief through simple intervention. Then a more aggressive approach is called for, medically. If the person's treatment is adequate, there should be improvement, if not, the depression may increase until it reaches a sort of "critical mass," from which it is very difficult to recover.
At this point I do not want to be misunderstood. The root of depression is the same as the root of every condition that afflicts people, whether they are Christians or not: the sinful state of a fallen world. As much as that seems to be a simplistic evaluation, it is nonetheless true. All of the world's evils are caused by the thing we call "original sin." That does not mean that every negative condition is directly caused by a particular sin. A given condition might or might not be the result of a given sin. The Bible is very clear, front to back, about those two statements.
Most, if not all, depression results from a self oriented response to circumstances, whether that response is deliberate, sub-conscious or the result of things like not getting one's way. Habitually responding to those conditions in a negative way contributes to the increasing of one's depression. It results in an increase of the changes to brain chemistry that are responsible for the feelings of depression.
Depression is not a lack of faith. Many great Christian thinkers have suffered from it.CS Lewis was a famous Christian who suffered from depression. Just like any other condition or disease, God can choose to heal depression or He can give the sufferer the grace to endure it. That is His choice if He is sovereign.
Clinical depression is very treatable with proper counsel and drug therapy. Just like one would take penicillin for strep throat, one would take certain drugs to control depression. That is neither something to be embarrassed about nor to be ashamed of. It is not always easy to treat, and it requires the cooperation of the patient to control it, just as would the taking of penicillin for strep throat.
Dr. Keith Russell Ablow is a psychiatrist and author educated at Johns Hopkins University and Brown University. He sheds this light on depression: "Depression is the grand impostor - posing as all powerful. It can be defeated, every time, if you or the person you care about confronts it like the grand impostor that it is."
Robin Williams had an issue beyond depression that he had not spoken about in public. He was suffering from early onset Parkinson's Disease. That the same condition that Michael J. Fox has. It is a debilitating condition for which there is no current cure.
I cannot say when the last time Robin Williams sought help for his depression and I don't know what he and his doctor spoke about concerning the Parkinson's Disease. I do know this: If you have never battled true clinical depression, you have no idea how it steals reality, replacing it with a world of doubts about one's successes, one's abilities, ones friends and doubts of God.
There are some things we Christians need to learn about Robin Williams and others who suffer depression. People who suffer from depression need a solid, caring, hopeful and dedicated circle of friends who will help them understand their need for treatment and who will support them through it. If we are to claim to be followers of Christ, we must stand by any of our Christian friends (or any other friends for that matter) who suffer from this devastating disorder. We need to help them, pray with them and stay by their side to the greatest degree possible. They need constant reassurance, not condemnation. They need encouragement, not judgement.
If you know someone who is clinically depressed, help them live bathed in God's grace and sufficiency.
Learn more about depression HERE.
