One of the world\u2019s favorite comedians took his own life. It makes me very sad. But it also makes me determined to get the word out about clinical depression.<\/p>\n
By now, you\u2019ve probably heard about the shocking suicide of comedian and Oscar-winning actor Robin Williams.<\/p>\n
Shocking, but if you know anything about suicide and Williams\u2019 personal history, not entirely a surprise. Williams had been open about his problems with alcohol and drugs. What\u2019s more, Williams had been, according to his publicist, \u201cbattling \u2018severe depression.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Alcohol, drugs, depression, all of these are associated with suicide. And as psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison of Johns Hopkins writes in her book, \u201cNight Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide,\u201d the most common factor in suicide is mental illness, in particular \u201cmood disorders\u201d such as clinical depression and bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
Now, as somebody who has suffered from this myself over the years, I have to say it\u2019s very important to be clear about what doctors mean by clinical depression. It is not being sad, even for extended periods of time. Sadness is part of the human condition. But clinical depression is a medical condition \u201cwhich paralyzes all the otherwise vital forces that make us human,\u201d leaving us with a life that is \u201cbloodless\u201d and \u201cpainless.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his book, \u201cThe Noonday Demon,\u201d which chronicled his life with severe clinical depression, Andrew Solomon has written that the opposite of depression isn\u2019t happiness, it\u2019s vitality.<\/p>\n
And as Jamison tells us, the presence of mood disorders not only makes it more likely that a person will attempt suicide, but also will incline them towards more \u201cserious\u201d efforts in that direction \u2014 that is, efforts that exhibit more forethought and planning.<\/p>\n
Depressed people often self-medicate with alcohol and drugs, which, according to Jamison, \u201cmore often worsen [the pain]\u201d and \u201cundermine the individual\u2019s willingness to seek out and receive good clinical care.\u201d They also reduce inhibitions and increase risk-taking, thus reinforcing whatever tendencies toward self-destruction a person may possess.<\/p>\n
A friend of mine told me that several times he\u2019d seen Robin Williams attending Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City. Apparently Williams was looking for answers. Maybe he found them, and maybe he didn\u2019t; but we serve a merciful God whose thoughts and ways are not our own.<\/p>\n
I say this because tragic events over the past few years have reminded us that Christians are not immune to the scourge of suicide. Outstanding Christians such as Tony Dungy and Rick Warren have lost sons to suicide. As Warren and his wife, Kay, told Piers Morgan of CNN, they had talked their son Matthew off the proverbial ledge many times in his tragically-short life.<\/p>\n
Like most of those left behind in the wake of suicide, they wondered if there was anything more they could have done, and concluded that the answer was \u201cno.\u201d As Warren told Morgan \u201cIf love could have kept my child alive, he\u2019d be alive today, because he was incredibly loved.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the wake of Matthew Warren\u2019s suicide, discussion about how churches deal with depression intensified. Christian leaders wrote about their own struggles with depression. And let me add my name and that of the colleague who helped me prepare this BreakPoint commentary to the list of those who struggle with depression.<\/p>\n
If you or anyone you love suffers from depression, please get help. You can come to BreakPoint.org and click on this commentary and we\u2019ll direct you to resources that can help.<\/p>\n
Why some people ultimately succumb to what Christianity Today writer C. Michael Patton called \u201cthe asphyxiation of hope\u201d and others don\u2019t is something we just don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
What we do know is that Christians are called to walk alongside those who suffer.<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2014 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. “BreakPoint” is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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