How I overcome depression.

Since the untimely death of America's beloved Robin Williams there has been much advice going around the Internet on the subject of suicide.

I do not write as a professional and, thus do not claim to have all the answers. It is said that life's most valuable lessons are learned from experience. I write as one with a background of experience.

First all because I lived with an ill-crazed dad over a six month period of deep darkness.  Second, because my natural father lived with depression.  His depression led him to unthinkable destructive acts, having taken the lives of my mother and four year old brother.  Third, I write because I believe every person who has lived alone has felt the sting of loneliness and depression simply because they are often isolated. As a thirty year widow, I am no stranger to living life alone.

Having provided information about my background, I want to share with you how I overcame, and still overcome, depression.

There are several things I find helpful:

First, I find it lifts my spirit if I sing or play worshipful music. This helps, in particular, if I have no real opportunity to get out of the house.

Second, though it may seem extraordinary, when I have faced deep disappointment, I seek a new challenge. I find it therapeutic to take on some new project.

Third, I find satisfaction delving into something for which I have procrastinated such as washing my windows. (while playing music)

Years ago I experienced a deep disappointment which totally wracked me. Without even thinking, I went home and cleaned my Velcro hair rollers. Never in my wildest thoughts, had that been a part of my plan for that day. I talked out my frustration while I whisked the hair out of my rollers.

Forth, though I do this far less as I age, I get out of the house and go shopping. I may not have any plans to make any purchases, but getting out of the house can be a key to overcoming depression.

Fifth, and most healing, I seek God's wisdom. I find comfort and peace in the midst of life's storms as I meditate over appropriate Scripture verses.  

A twin to depression, in my opinion, is sudden panic attacks. I had gotten panic attacks for years before I realized that I was not the only one who experienced this, to me, a phenomenon. Later I discovered there was a name for this malady. I have believed that my panic attacks were the result of fear. Financial fear is, perhaps, at the highest level of a single person's concerns. Thus I am going to share with you how I overcame panic attacks.

In l993 I was working for Christian Publications in Camp Hill, Pa as a telemarketer to their clientele. My boss had recommended a “mom and pop” home where I stayed through the week and drove home Fridays after work. One Friday, my “mom” called to advise me not to go home. Due to a storm that March day, there were trees across some roads, etc. But to stay there over the weekend meant that I would relinquish my refreshed spirit over the weekend, both at home and at church.

So I gassed up my car and hit route 11 to Danville. When I reached home there was several inches of slush on the grass. As I sprinted across the yard, my foot landed in a former post hole. Mid-air, I heard the crack. I was down. A jogging neighbor heard my cries for help.

It was stunning to hear the Doctor pronounce “eight weeks in a cast.” That meant that I had no income whatsoever for eight weeks. I was in a tailspin.

During those first weeks living in a recliner chair, I had more panic attacks than ever. Finally, one day when I felt an attack about to strike I pondered Romans 8:15: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” I meditated on that verse several times that week with each new threatening attack. I can honestly say that, from that time forward I have never again had a panic attack. On rare occasions, I feel the early pangs of an attack, but remembering that Scripture sends the enemy sailing.

Fifth, and foremost, the healing I experience over depression and anxiety came in l972. That is when I gave my life to Jesus Christ. A sinner, such is each of us, I repented of my sins and invited Jesus into my heart. He has promised, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Though I may never be free of anxiety, near-panic attacks, nor depression I have that promise that Jesus never fails and He will see me through. Jesus offers victory over mental illness. He may not always heal, but He has already defeated the enemy of our minds when He rose from the grave victorious over death.

Someone has said that “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” Whether we accept that as truth or not, hell is permanent. If we die today by our own hand, or by God's, and we have not accepted His free offer of salvation, we face an eternal darkness far worse than any depression. After death, according to God's Word, it is too late.

Read how God used a rat to return my family back home after my depressed (adoptive) Dad hung himself in our basement: http://www.manteldust.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2013-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2014-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=9

Read how I was orphaned as a toddler, a result of my natural father's depression: “It happened behind Shooter's Bar”

http://manteldust.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html