Depressed? Depression? What’s the Difference?
I see these two getting mixed up quite a lot, whether it’s in psychology circles or just discussions about it. Even in a recent Bible study book I was reading seemed to equate the two versus understanding their differences. I understand the intent, but it’s important to understand the distinction, so let’s get into it.
To start us off, I highly recommend you first read my previous post about “Understanding Depression with Discernment,” where I break this down in even more detail & offer some useful insight God has given me in my many years of struggling with depression while being a Christian & seeking God for wisdom & answers through those very difficult many years
The 5 Distinguishable Parts of Depression
The blog post I mentioned above helps distinguish between 5 parts of struggling with depression:
- The Cause (chemical imbalance, etc.)
- The Symptoms (numb, checked out, bleh, etc.)
- The Consequences of Symptoms (easy jobs seem harder, you feel weaker/less capable, others may judge you, etc.)
- How Satan Exploits Our Weakness (suicidal thoughts, questioning our value/worth, feeling beat down & worthless & a burden to family/friends)
- Our Choice (Trust Satan’s VERY convincing LIES, or CLING TO TRUTH through prayer & God’s Word)
Read the post if you struggle–it was a life-changing & quite freeing realization for me. I hope it is the same for you.
One Doesn’t Automatically Include the Other
But, today, I want to hone in more on the huge difference between feeling DEPRESSED & having DEPRESSION.
The 2 don’t even have to coexist. You can possibly not have depression but be going through something REALLY hard that doesn’t let up & definitely feel very DEPRESSED. But you can also feel pretty okay & have DEPRESSION.
So, let’s talk about it. Because the more we talk about it, the more we can learn to remove the chains of “I have ______________, therefore, I AM _____________,” & learn some freedom through the clouds.
Depression
First, there’s depression. Having depression is something out of your control in some respects, although you CAN learn to help your brain out a bit. It’s not an attitude or bitterness or anything like that. There have been seasons where I felt I could not stop crying, but when I would try to seek out WHY, I found no logical reason. I was just SAD for no reason. It can be maddening. Like a weightiness pressing on me without a cause.
Now, I say that it’s out of your control “in some respects,” because there are things you can do to help your brain out.
Honoring God means stewarding well His blessings & gifts, including our bodies.
How Can We Help Our Brains?
We need to make sure to nourish & fuel it. You wouldn’t put syrup in your car’s gas tank & expect it to run well much longer & our bodies are much like that, but much more forgiving (at least temporarily). Make sure you are checking the nutritious value of your food intake, so your brain has the nourishment it needs to function well.
Drink plenty of water to help flush your body of toxins & keep yourself hydrated.
Make sure you’re getting regular/sound sleep.
Moving your body, even on several walks a week help keep everything in your body running more smoothly.
In some cases, even with stewarding your body well, your brain chemistry is just still out of whack, & so medication may be recommended in some cases. But make sure to try to give your body what it needs before supplementing with meds. All meds have side effects, but treating your body the way it longs to be treated only has good outcomes. Try that first.
THE Ultimate Depression Tip
But, aside from doing your part to keep your body functioning well, helping it out by treating it right, when those symptoms hit, there is an ultimate necessity that will be a make or break for you: PRAYER.
Now, if you rolled your eyes just now… I get it. REALLY get it. But that is because it is so easy to misunderstand prayer. It’s not about special words that do you any good… it’s about considering the WHO you’re talking to that makes a difference. HE can do what you just cannot.
Quick Detour: How Pain CAN Actually HELP Us
I think it’s too easy to skip this part, to think you just need to patch it, fix it, get the uncomfortable OUT. But you know what, in all my years of struggling with this & asking God WHY… “WHY are you letting me suffer?????” His answer both humbled & encouraged me more than I could have ever expected:
It was something like this realization: “You look around & you can see people, even Christians, basically ignoring Me in their day-to-day. They maybe pray before a meal, go to church, some just the “bare minimum.” They don’t think they need Me. But not you… you have never had the “luxury” of believing you could do this life on your own. You have been in a perpetual state of NEED most of your life. And because of it, you have seen Me come through for you & be faithful to you & do for you what others can’t see because they trust themselves over Me. Your faith has grown because you have needed Me so consistently & I have been your enough through every bit of it.”
The need, the lacking, the discomfort, the vulnerability… it is all HARD. But don’t try to run away from hard. Don’t just pop a pill & move on. Use it as your very ever-present reminder of your very real need of HIM as your EVERYTHING & not just when you think you need something.
No Fanfare, But All Power
So, back to the ultimate recommendation: PRAY. Turn to Him. Ask Him to help you where you can’t help yourself. To BE your strength to face your day.
I wake up numb some days. Like everything is through a hazy gray, black & white. Tired. Out of it. Don’t care. Just bleh.
Natural me? Can I fake a cough, put pjs back on, curl under the covers, & skip life today please? (I don’t EVER do this, but the temptation is VERY strong some days, let me tell you.)
But I have learned, that although saying some words to God in my head can sometimes feel like the equivalent of a child thinking they can fly to the moon using a cardboard box because they REALLY want it… basically unrealistic & not enough… it IS enough… because God doesn’t have to SHOW UP with fanfare & blaring trumpets & bright light & filling your room with robes, etc., with sparkling flow coming from His hands as He forms whatever it is you need in that moment or HEAL you in every way possible right there… to show His power to you. No.
His power is quiet. Unassuming. No fanfare whatsoever.
And yet… it works.
I pray. He hears. He helps.
He Helps
My wasted, worthless days, where I am just running at 0% wondering how I am going to even manage to go to work that day, let alone all the chores & responsibilities I have waiting. He helps. He supplies. Every single time.
I pray & I ask God to help be my supply. I ask Him to be my strength when I feel I have none. I ask for encouragement & wisdom, peace & strength. I ask for my next step. I ask for HELP. And He supplies.
Do I do this every day? No. Honestly, some days I give up & get tired of needing to ask for help. I want to be selfish & not need it. I want to be self-sufficient & I get tired of constant NEED. I’m sorry to God for that. For wanting to be my own God. He is SO patient & gentle & faithful with me & I truly don’t deserve it.
The Important Distinction Between Feeling Depressed & Having Depression
Now for the feeling depressed part. It’s actually not synonymous with having depression. You can actually have depression & not spiral into feeling depressed, although you are definitely a lot more susceptible & vulnerable to it…. (*Go back up & read that original recommended post at the start if you want a little more FREEdom on this.)
But, as I admitted, I struggle wanting to surrender my weakness every day. I get worn. I get selfish. I want to be okay without help. I want to not feel so weak anymore.
And yes, deep down, if I am willing to admit how selfish that sounds & then submit that to God for a change of attitude, I can see every time that the weakness is worth seeing how capable God is.
Satan Likes to Beat Us While We’re Down
But there is always that war with the flesh. Always needing to make it die to self, to submit. And that is hard every day. It’s not easy to surrender. And sometimes I have to ask God to even help me to WANT change of attitude. If you know, you know.
Feeling depressed is of the enemy. Satan wants us to give up. He wants us to believe his lies. He wants us to sink into despair. He wants us to demand to be able to count on ourselves vs constantly needing God. He wants us doubting God. Satan wants us in chains, bondage, fear, anxiety, pain, hatred, bitterness. That’s where he wants us.
And when you have depression… it’s true… you’re weaker to it. It feels so easy to believe it. You’re vulnerable, needy even. Others oftentimes don’t get it. Eye rolls are caught in the corner of your eye. Compassion is often lacking. You get misunderstood. You feel like a burden.
Depressed Without Depression
It’s not always bitterness, bad attitude, etc. Sometimes life is just HARD.
Even if you don’t have depression, sometimes life hits you SO HARD out of nowhere. Happy, fun, laughter memories & then BAM sideswiped & your loved one is gone. Or infidelity, cancer, loss of a child, infertility, betrayal, abuse… life on this earth is very very hard sometimes, isn’t it? Sin wreaks havoc wherever it goes.
And it’s hard. So hard. So hard not to just feel the pain wash over you & knock you off your feet, swirling & tossing & trying to come up for air, choking on the hurt in your heart like a lump in your throat.
Sometimes it is sin. Your own sin? Guilt, shame, getting yourself in a mess. Sometimes it’s sin in the form of unresolved bitterness, refusal to forgive, refusal of God’s help, refusal to trust God’s plan or promises.
You don’t have to have depression to be depressed. Life is hard sometimes.
But… God.
God IS ALWAYS Enough
That power I mentioned? The no-fanfare power? The one that seems like “how could it ever?” & yet, does? It’s still there in that, too. God meets us where we are. He doesn’t ask us to pretty up pain before we come to Him IN it.
He can handle it. He can take it.
Sometimes, I have hard days. My depression gets the better of me. I’m not suicidal, but often have days where I find myself asking God if I could have a heart attack maybe so I could just go to heaven so I don’t ever have to feel hurt again. I know that makes some of you uncomfortable to read, but it’s the truth. And the worst part is, I know I have nothing in my life to warrant that. Nothing worthy of wanting to leave for heaven so badly some days. And yet.
God As My Comfort
I sometimes, in the hard, picture God, as best I can from a human mind never having seen Him in all of His splendor & majesty, & I picture Him as a huge giant of a man who fills a room, big & mighty. And I crawl up into the crook of his elbow & nestle in, knowing He has me & won’t ever let me go.
Knowing He’s faithful & kind, gentle & loving. He won’t ever let me go.
And then I thought, but there will be such great demand for this from everyone if this were as He is. But then it dawned on me… God is so infinite in nature, that He could be that for me AND for everyone else INDIVIDUALLY because of how infinite & vast He is.
What We NEED to Remember When We ARE DEPRESSED
In all the hard of life, I think it’s so, SO important to remember what God instructs us in Philippians 4:8 Think on those things. Be INTENTIONAL in it. Life will always have HARD, but it will also always have GOOD, because God is GOOD.
Remember to PRAISE Him… to WORSHIP… to THANK Him. Don’t quote verses about it… DO IT. You will be surprised how often it lifts your soul from the miry muck to peace in remembering an awe for all God is & has done for you. REMEMBER.
Put on the armor OF GOD every day. (Ephesians 6:10-18) Remember the impossible peace He can offer IN the storm. Remember if you trust on Jesus to cover your sins against God by His dying on the cross & rising again… you are SAVED from your sin & NOTHING can take that from you. Remember FAITH… not in the superficial ideal of hope, but faith in what GOD can do where you can’t. Remember God’s Word as TRUTH no matter what you see or feel. Remember to make God-honoring choices, even & especially when you don’t FEEL like it. Remember to PRAY.
(*Read about the armor OF God in more detail on a previous post of mine: “What Good Is the Armor of God? (Part 1/2” & “What Good Is the Armor of God? (Part 2/2)”)
If you can’t fight anymore, I get you. In your heart, when you have no strength to pray, close your eyes & picture crawling up into the nook of His arms, letting Him hold you in perfect peace despite the world. Let Him be for you what you can’t for yourself.
It is okay to not be okay. But don’t let the enemy win… let God.
Shine HOPE by calling out to God & trusting He hears you. He sees you. He loves you.
***Read these other past posts about Depression: “Depression & Me”; “Depression: the Devil’s Playground”; “The Sin Problem That Lurks in Depression & Struggles”; “Pivot, Pivot! #3-The Dungeon of Depression-The Journey of Truth”; “Sometimes God Doesn’t Take the Pain Away.” ***
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Awakening Necklace (INDIA)
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