Band-aids do not cure cuts. Band-aids do not help a wound to heal. Band-aids are useful in keeping a cut clean, so that infection is not so likely to set in. Band-aids are good for keeping blood out of the stewpot when you chopped your thumb when you intended to be chopping the onions and carrots.
I wonder if that may be what depression medications do. (No! Not the part about keeping red-cells out of your dinner!) I suspect that depression meds don't really solve the problem. In some cases, they are necessary to deal with fall-out from a problem. Or they may keep a problem from worsening, as a bandage protects a wound from being scratched or dirtied. Or maybe the meds temporarily alleviate stress so that a person can more easily focus efforts on other solutions to the depression. But can they actually be the solution themselves?
And on that tack, what is the difference between anfechtung and clinical depression? Because a prescription sure ain't gonna cure anfechtung.
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No, they don't always solve the problem. Nothing 'solves the problem' this side of eternity. Things that cause depression are usually grave enough that they don't get 'solved', they might be forgotten or overcome- but never solved. Deaths of family members and guilt over sins will haunt you years down the road. God may take away the immediate pain- but the problem is still there.
ReplyDeleteMedications can however help to balance chemicals and hormones which have gotten out of wack, and in that regard bring your brain back to the normal state it's supposed to be in.
Contrary to what many Christians teach nowadays, Depression isn't always just a mental condition caused by a 'lack of faith' or 'terrible guilt' or whatever else. Depression is many times a medical problem, in need of a doctor's guidance and medication. Just because we live in an over-medicated society isn't a reason to say all such medication is pointless, as we so often do hear.
In that sense- the medications can solve the problem. To use a personal example, I was on anti-anxiety meds for awhile after suffering from panic attacks and crippling anxiety. Eventually the panic attacks went away, and eventually I was able to go off the medication. I've been fine since, and been in situations much worse than the ones that initially caused the problems. That's not to say I never feel anxiety, but there's a marked difference between it now and what it was.
I was lucky. I know people who suffer from manic depression (bipolar disorder)- often medications are needed to allow them to just cope day to day. I'd say it solves the problem as much as iron supplements to correct a deficiency solve the problem. They need to be taken to stop the symptoms, but the sickness never really gets cured the same way a cold does (I believe, I'm not well-read enough on bipolar disorder to know if it can be 'cured' [or on iron deficencies for that matter]).
Depression can be indicative of a deeper spiritual problem caused by sin, and only Christ can cure that (and not while our amphibious old adam torments us). In such cases, you're probably right- medications help to keep the problem in check and let you function normally.
However, depression can have a documentable medical condition,a nd it that snese- medication can cure it.
Just my two cents :)
>>depression can have a documentable medical condition<<
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm questioning. There's documentation that proves the medical condition of depression. But does it actually prove that?
There are differences in the brain of a depressed person. Are those differences the cause of the depression? That's what most doctors think. But what if those differences are a result of the depression?
Many of the medications for depression can alleviate anxiety and despair, or boost mood, in healthy people as well as those who are struggling with depression. So "success" with the drug doesn't necessarily prove that there was a chemical problem that caused the depression. It could be that something else caused the problem, and the depression meds helped ease the symptoms of the problem (which is, of course, sometimes exactly what is needed.)
I know a lot of people have been helped by the meds. I guess what I seriously question, though, is the widespread assumption that drugs should be used to treat depression.
Sometimes band-aids help. Sometimes they do nothing but give you a rash.
If a doctor wants to slap a band-aid on every cut, no matter what, I am suspicious of whether the doctor has a sense of what vitamin E and sunlight can do to help heal a wound. I want to know that the doctor knows when a treatment is appropriate and when it's not. Only then can I have any confidence whatsoever in the doctor's judgment as to whether a band-aid or a pill will actually help. If the doctor has a one-size-fits-all treatment, it probably won't fit me any better than one-size-fits-all socks work for a Bigfoot like me. :-)
Of course, I'm the type of person who would prefer to treat illnesses with garlic, green drink, kombucha, sunlight, herbs, and other wacky things.
>>Just because we live in an over-medicated society isn't a reason to say all such medication is pointless, as we so often do hear.<<
ReplyDeleteRighto.
But, on the flip-side, the fact that we live in an over-medicated society IS reason to question whether medication might, in any particular situation, actually be pointless. (I guess that's the short version of what I was blunderingly trying to say in the previous comment.)
Susan asks: And on that tack, what is the difference between anfechtung and clinical depression? Because a prescription sure ain't gonna cure anfechtung.
ReplyDeleteKavouras responds: They are the same thing Susan, in this sense, that depression is one of a thousand different tentacles of anfechtung.
There's no virtue in looking for crosses to bear, or in carrying ones that you don't need to. Our pietistic flesh tells us differenly of course. (Pietism is the flesh's version of Christianity.)
Plenty of crosses come your way, and/or demand your attention, without looking for them.
Therefore, if God has provided relief to your prayers for deliverance via medicine, use it, and thank Him for it. (1 Timothy 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving) It is God who is in the medicine, doing His work.
If breathing camomile fumes or eating ground worms gives relief, then God is in those as well.
If anyone tells you that depression is a result of small faith or some similar theological canard, tell that Baptist that you need to go now, because you're late for your cocktail hour.
"I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."
"Lo, I am with you always."
"Fear not little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."
"The Kingdom ours remaineth!"
But should we take medication when the symptoms can go away over time without it?
ReplyDeleteI realize now that I had extreme symptoms of depression after our accident this spring. I didn't take any medication and now my head is clear enough, they symptoms have all but gone away. Should I have altered my body chemistry to feel better then rather than waiting to let nature take its course?
I really don't know the answer. If I would have been aware how bad I was (depression makes me unable to see myself in a true light), I'm sure I would have taken medication.
It's not really like a band-aid, because the worst side affect of wearing a band-aid is that nasty gray mark left from the sticky. :p
Here's my response to your intriguing little note:
ReplyDeletehttp://darkmyroad.blogspot.com/2007/11/susan-over-at-her-pendulum-has-posted.html
But should we take medication when the symptoms can go away over time without it?
ReplyDeleteKavouras responds: This is a medical question, not a theological one. Do what seems best medically.
Chaplain K wrote --
ReplyDelete>>if God has provided relief to your prayers for deliverance via medicine, use it, and thank Him for it. If breathing chamomile fumes or eating ground worms gives relief, then God is in those as well.<<
and Elizabeth wrote --
>>But should we take medication when the symptoms can go away over time without it?<<
I agree with Pr K. But I also agree with Elizabeth; sometimes "time" IS the cure.
As I have taught my children, EVERY medication has a side effect. The trick to knowing when to use it is that you weigh the side effects versus the benefits. When the benefits outweigh the side effects, then you go for the drug. When the side effects are weightier than the benefits, then you suffer without the drug and wait for (or search out) alternative methods of healing.
For some of us, jogging or those expensive light jobbies or vit B or herbs or music or joke books (or combinations of the above) can provide what the drugs can provide, without the side effects. Some people take tylenol for a headache; others don't. Some people think that cure for a fever is to wait and sleep; others take aspirin. Some people take antibiotics for germies; others eat enough garlic that their odor can be smelled two rooms away.
I want to be clear: I'm not objecting to the use of drugs to treat depression. I am, however, objecting to those who think it's irresponsible to choose something other than prescription drugs to treat depression.
Recently I had a conversation with the extremely engaging David Andrus from Lutheran Blind Mission. He said that even if there were a magic pill that he could take to make him see again, he wouldn’t take it, not for the world. There are a lot of things in my life that cause me great distress. Somewhere down deep as much as I want these things to go away, I see that God uses them in my life. In the end they drive me to Christ and He brings His good through them (faith in Christ). If there were a magic pill to take them all away I don’t know if I would want to take it. I would be scared of sinfully taking things into my own hands. I don’t know if I would be able to discern if I would be doing it for the right reasons, or wrongfully taking away something that God is using to work His perfect will in my life. Just because I would be happier wouldn’t necessarily make me any better off. I hate this sinful life and flesh, but the Lord will remove it in His good and perfect time.
ReplyDeleteEliz: But should we take medication when the symptoms can go away over time without it?<<
ReplyDeleteSusan: I agree with Pr K. But I also agree with Elizabeth; sometimes "time" IS the cure.
Pastor Kavouras replies: Elizabeth, is the "should" a theological should or a medical one? There is no theological "should" on this matter. Jog, eat ground worms if that works. Take medicine if that works. Don't suffer needlessly. There's plenty of unavoidable suffering to keep us all busy and in constant touch with the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort.
Pastor K. I think it's a medical "should". When a person takes the meds, they feel fine and don't think there's a problem any more. Go off the medication, and the problem is still there.
ReplyDeleteThink about taking ibuprofin for a an elbow problem. The elbow feels fine, you go out and play tennis, BUT the injury is still there and once the meds wear off you are in more pain than before.
I think there are times when antidepressents are needed to clear the fog enough to start healing, but I also see too many people taking them for the fake "happy" without making any effort to heal the issues that triggered it in the first place.
Pr K asked --
ReplyDelete>>is the "should" a theological should or a medical one?<<
So maybe the medical "should" is heard by some people as being a theological "should"? That would make a big difference in how people were hearing those "shoulds."
>>Don't suffer needlessly.<<
I think there are times when there is no way to end the suffering, apart from sinning. Like Elizabeth said, sometimes the problem can be masked so that you feel better in the face of the problem. And sometimes that's good, so that a person can begin coping with the problem. But sometimes the masking makes a person able to continue on, without solving anything. Sometimes that's precisely what's needed; sometimes that just prolongs the misery.
Anonymous wrote --
>>There are a lot of things in my life that cause me great distress. Somewhere down deep as much as I want these things to go away, I see that God uses them in my life. In the end they drive me to Christ and He brings His good through them (faith in Christ).<<
I think that's a valid point. Like Pr K said, there's no reason to endure suffering that can be alleviated. And yet, there's a lot to take into account (medically) in that regard. And there's also the realization that sometimes there would be sin involved in trying to escape depression-inducing situations. So maybe then you just bear the suffering, and rejoice in how God works through it.
Pr K wrote --
>>Anfechtung and clinical depression are the same thing Susan, in this sense, that depression is one of a thousand different tentacles of anfechtung.
So you're saying that anfechtung can be seen as clinical depression? It just seems to me that they are two entirely different things. But it's possible for one to lead to the other (in either direction). I appreciated what Pr Dark-My-Road wrote about that.