Book review: Dealing with Depression

It was after the Sunday evening service. My (then) minister asked me if he could have a chat with me. He sat me down and said, “Richard, I think you have clinical depression”. As he is one of my best friends, this got my attention!

I had been feeling very low for a year, and knew the reason why - but then we all feel like that sometimes, don’t we? –yet, that I had ‘clinical depression’ had never occurred to me.

My pastor told me of two other people at church who were clinically depressed (which was very helpful, as we could compare notes), said that medication had helped them both, and suggested I saw my GP (which I did).

All this led me to start reading Christian books on the subject, to try to understand better what I was experiencing, and how to cope with, and hopefully come through, the depression.

Much later, I came across Dealing with Depression (UK only). The authors, Sarah Collins (background – Christian student work), and Jayne Haynes (family medicine), came to realize how many of their own church were battling with depression. This spurred them to put together a seminar on the topic, which eventually led to this book.

If you are currently experiencing depression, this book is a good place to start. The chapters are short, realistic, not too detailed or technical – and, at the same time, there is a ‘Helpful Reading and Internet Resources’ section (secular and Christian) at the back, if you wish to follow things up in more detail.

The authors examine what depression is and why we get depressed, give a Christian perspective on medical treatments for depression, and look at how to trust God in the darkness (with help from the Psalms and elsewhere), and how to help the depressed. Appendices give the experiences of an evangelist with depression - and of a husband and pastor.

I run our church bookstall and show this book to the depressed, or to those seeking to aid sufferers. Both sets of people are usually glad for all the help they can get. It beats being on the receiving end of superficial and unhelpful comments like “snap out of it” or “we all get depressed sometimes”! – and increases our ability to cope with depression or get alongside others. Why not keep an eye out at church for those who might value help?

Richard John
Bookstall Manager, Selhurst Evangelical Church (FIEC), S.E. London

This article is posted today as a series of articles to help Christians think about how to help those with mental health struggles. You can find some resources we have available to help on The Good Book website here.