Monday 14 May 2012

Depression

Depression is now epidemic today in the western world. 

·        1 in 6 men have clinical depression.
·        1 in 5 women also have clinical depression.

·        It is estimated 1 in 4 teenagers now have clinical depression.

·        Every person is likely to suffer a form of depression at some time in their life.

·        Only I in 9 people who have clinical depression seek treatment it.

Yet figures suggest the earlier that treatment is started, the easier and quicker it is to remedy.
Dr. Martin Seligman has made a study of depression.  His ideas dominate psychology in the USA and have caused a revolution in the treatment of depression in American in the last 10 years.
Until Seligman’s research it was widely believed that a person was powerless to change their circumstances.  It was believed that people are simply programmed to act and respond in certain ways that can not be changed.

Then one day his 5 year old daughter taught him a profound lesson.  Seligman and his young daughter were out weeding the garden.  He the busy phycologist was concentrating on the task at hand ... weeding the garden as quickly as possible.  His daughter on the other hand, was more interested in having fun.  She found delight in pulling the weeds and tossing them in the air and watching them flutter back to the ground.
In a cranky tone he reprimanded his daughter for not getting on with the task.  Work now.  Play later.  

His daughter a little upset but with the honesty of a young child finally came back to her father with a question.  “You know how I learned not to be whiney by the time I was 5?  Well, why can’t you learn not to be grumpy?”

·        This simple childish question changed modern phycology.   It set Seligman learning and studying how to become happy.

Depression robs us of happiness but if we can learn how to be happy it can act as a buffer to prevent depression. If we suffer depression happiness can help make antidepressant drugs more effective.
Happiness was not the only buffer Seligman found.  He ended with a list of 13 buffers to stress and depression.  The list includes: Courage.  Future mindedness.  Optimism.  Interpersonal skills.  Faith.  Work ethic.  Hope.  Honesty.  Perseverance. Capacity for insight.  Forgiveness.  Resilience and happiness.

Before Seligman’s work an America Psychologists could loose their licences to practice if they asked about a person’s faith.  Seligman found in his study of happiness that the happiest people are conservative Christians.
Since Seligman’s work it is now compulsory for Psychologists to take a spiritual inventory of all patients.  Faith is understood to be so helpful in the process of prevention and recovery that a Psychologist who does not do this with each patient they see is now considered negligent if they do not take this inventory.

It seems that science and Phycology are only now just discovering what Christians have always known.  We humans are wonderfully made by God but we made with design limits that can not be exceeded without real harm to ourselves. We are designed to be healthiest when we are in relationship with our creator.


Thursday 3 May 2012

Forgiving and forgetting

We all long and need to be loved and to give love to others.  Sometimes though it all goes wrong and we are left with disappointment and hurt.  The fairy tale can turn into a reality we did not plan or imagine and all we are left with is shattered dreams and disappointment.

What happens when relationships break down, when love stops, when you have been disappointed by others, when they don’t live up to your hopes and expectations?

Can you find it in you to forgive and forget or do you let life’s disappointment keep on hurting?

In my job, I meet lots of people of all ages, and unfortunately there are some older people that I have learned to try to avoid, they seem to sap my energy.  They are often people who have been hurt at some time in their past, but have never got passed that disappointment.  They can not let it go and so the hurt keeps on damaging them.  Over time they can become bitter and twisted.

There are other older people though that I really enjoy being around.  They are fun.  They often have a deep wisdom, and enjoy contributing to those around them, especially children.  When you talk with these people and get to know them, I have discovered that often they too have had real sorrow, and disappointments to cope with.

What’s the difference?

I think it is because they have learnt to truly forgive.  They have learnt to forgive as God does.  With some people that ability comes because they have known what it is to be forgiven by God.

There is a song that sums it up well, the song is, “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, and it says,

“Pardon for sin and peace to endure

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow”.

When we receive God’s forgiveness we also receive His blessing and power.  His Holy Spirit works in and with us, transforming us, healing our past, and giving us a bright hope for the future.

God can even help us to be forgiving of others…