Feeling Unhappy?

[ironmonk]

If we are unhappy, then something is not right between us and God.

We are either looking at something in our lives from a wrong point of view, or we are in sin. Sometimes we try to rationalize the sin and become blind to it. The Church teaches us what they teach us for very valid reasons. The reasons are not only for our salvation but our happiness.

If we are unhappy, it is our own fault. When we are in God's grace it is happiness. If we think we are in God's grace and we are unhappy, then we need to change something in our lives. Sometimes we may have to stop doing something we want and/or start doing something we do not want.


[quote]The Way:
217: I want you to be happy on earth. And you will not be happy if you don't lose that fear of suffering. For, as long as we are 'wayfarers', it is precisely in suffering that our happiness lies.

255: You want to hear all that I think of 'your way'? Very well, then..., listen: if you respond to the call, you will do your utmost in your work for Christ: if you become a man of prayer, you will be granted the grace necessary to respond and, hungry for sacrifice, you will seek out the hardest tasks...

And you will be happy here, and unspeakably happy hereafter.

665: I want you to be happy always, for cheerfulness is an essential part of your way.

Pray that the same supernatural joy may be granted to us all.[/quote]


[b]St. Matt. 5:11 [/b]
[color=red]Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. [/color]
[b]12 [/b] [color=red]Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. [/color]


God Bless,
ironmonk

[Nicole8223]

Good stuff...thanks for sharing!!!

[Brother Adam]

Yep. Good post.

[Christie_M]

[color=blue] thatnks for sharing. [/color]

[photosynthesis]

so suffering from clinical depression is a sin? gosh, I'd better gtet to confession.

[ironmonk]

[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Mar 1 2006, 01:03 AM']so suffering from clinical depression is a sin?  gosh, I'd better gtet to confession.
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[/quote]

Since you are trying to imply something that is not there, you're getting a blunt reply.


As I wrote above...
Someone who is depressed is either looking at things from the wrong perspective or something in their life is not right with God. It is your responsibility to figure out which.

We can change anything about ourselves that we want.

This life is nothing compared to eternity.

The only thing in this world to be unhappy about is when someone dies and was not in the Grace of God.

If we are unhappy, there can be only two reasons... we are not looking at things properly or we are not right with God.


[b]St. Matt 5:25 [/b]
"[color=red]Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? [/color]
[b]26 [/b][color=red]Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? [/color]
[b]27 [/b][color=red]Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? [/color]
[b]28 [/b][color=red]Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. [/color]
[b]29 [/b][color=red]But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. [/color]
[b]30 [/b][color=red]If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? [/color]
[b]31 [/b][color=red]So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' [/color]
[b]32 [/b][color=red]All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [/color]
[b]33 [/b][color=red]But [b]seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.[/b] [/color]
[b]34 [/b][color=red]Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil. [/color]


Depression wasn't a problem a hundred years ago when people had very little. Depression happens when we have too much of what we want instead of focusing on what God wants. This can be both of the situations combind... but it is at least one of them... Change your point of view and/or get right with God.


God Bless,
ironmonk

[Tata126]

Or you could have a hormonal imbalance.

[Snarf]

See, I agree absolutely that this life is nothing compared with Eternity. However, what should be taken in from that is not that we should lull ourselves into a blissful ignorance because of that, but to fight for the sake of our salvation regardless of the cost of our happiness.

Our time on Earth is negligible, but that cannot overlook the fact that it will never FEEL negligible. What was it that Job said, "I will never be happy again"? I'd consider Job LUCKY in that his misery was contextual, not a mark of disposition. We weren't meant to be happy in this life, we were meant to prove our value for eternal happiness. I can appreciate the fact that God loves me, but that doesn't change the fact that I've trained myself into a certain outlook of the world. Going further, it certainly doesn't change the fact that my seretonin gets stuck in my synapses and doesn't go to its proper receptors.

Life is miserable. Deal with it. At least we have something to which to look forward. What do our examples show for us what to expect from life?

Jesus: denied three times by His greatest follower, then suffered a brutal death.
The Apostles: Mostly ridiculed for the remainder of their lives and suffered brutal deaths.
St Paul: laughed at by the cities he visited, was barely lucky enough to die a quick death.
The early saints: martyred for their beliefs, many of whom ridiculed and tortured beforehand.

A priest who once heard my confession once told me to read [i]Dark Night of the Soul[/i] in Middle Spanish, and I've never been able to find a copy. I've skimmed enough of the English to ascertain that if depression were a mark of sinfullness, then there would be far fewer saints in the world. Depression has always existed, depression has always been a problem. The only thing that has changed is that we are taught by society that we should DEMAND happiness by spending money, and so when we acquire wealth it is only more incongruous that we cannot buy happiness.

There is every reason in the world to look forward to a great afterlife. But you'd have to have a really skewed view of the world not to suffer upon looking at it. His Kingdom is not of this world, so our happiness here should neither be expected nor demanded.

I can understand you saying that it's sinful to tout misery, as that shows a lack of humility and such, but to say that unhappiness in this world is spiritually unreasonable is just silly.

[photosynthesis]

[quote name='ironmonk' date='Mar 1 2006, 01:25 AM']Depression wasn't a problem a hundred years ago when people had very little. Depression happens when we have too much of what we want instead of focusing on what God wants. This can be both of the situations combind... but it is at least one of them... Change your point of view and/or get right with God.
God Bless,
ironmonk
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[/quote]
Depression isn't a new thing at all! If it were, then suicide would only have begun in the 20th century. People have ALWAYS suffered from it ever since the Fall.

Last fall, I was about to throw myself off a bridge. I really was. I wanted to die really bad. The only thing that kept me from doing that was my desire for God. I knew that if I took my own life, I would not have the grace of God anymore and I would be separated from him forever. But that didn't change the fact that I was very sad for a long time. I had nightmares every night, could not sleep for days, and I could not understand why God would let the man I loved die at such a young age.

A doctor prescribed me some medicine, but I never wanted to take it. It was traumatizing to swallow pills. But eventually I conquered that and I started taking the medicine regularly. I still get flashbacks and nightmares and stuff, but not like I used to. I no longer want to throw myself off a bridge. I'm not saying that the medicine "saved" me or anything, but nothing else in my life changed, except the fact that I finished college + the meds made me sleep regularly.

I'm not a ray of sunshine ALL the time, but I don't want to throw myself off a bridge into oncoming traffic, and that has to count for something, right?

Sadness is a consequence of sin, but by no means is it sinful to be sad. God, at least in my life, has used depression to strengthen my trust in Him and make me stronger in resisting evil.

[photosynthesis]

before making rash generalizations about people who struggle from such problems, maybe you should think about what you'd do if you were in their place. you must be lucky not to have been there.

[Ash Wednesday]

ironmonk,
I don't think you entirely understand what posters are referring to as depression. Depression CAN be a physical affliction -- as in clinical depression. It doesn't give us the right to wallow in it, of course, and when we do, therein lies the sin. But the condition of depression is not some new 20th century phenomenon. It has been a part of the human condition since the beginning of man. There has been different terms for it, and perhaps people have a tendency nowdays to use it as a crutch. But the facts still remain the same -- it does not always have spiritual implications. To say such is to assume that schitzophrenics, bipolars, or people with tourettes can cure themselves by getting right with God.

I suffered from very severe clinical depression my first year in college. Despite this, I pulled almost a 4.0 in school and held a job on the side. I did not wallow in my meloncholy. I was terrified because I couldn't concentrate on anything, and found myself crying at the drop of a hat. I seriously thought I was going insane. I wanted to feel normal, and close to God once again. I did not even know what was wrong with me until a doctor did some tests and told me my thyroid was almost missing in action, thus causing depression. It had nothing to do with some sin that I was committing. The same goes for women -- you're completely disregarding the toll that hormonal changes can have on us. Again, I'm not sanctioning PMS or postpartum outbursts. I'm just saying that there is a difference between the physical and emotional roots of depression.

Again I emphasize that to acknowledge any physical causes of depression and mood disorders does NOT excuse someone to neglect their spiritual duty or indulge in self-pity or sloth.

I have been managing my depression for over 10 years now. I view it as a cross that I have to carry and can offer up my internal sufferings for souls. It is also a gift that has sharpened my senses -- and has given me a greater understanding of when something is wrong. But the condition is not necessarily a sin in itself. Heaven knows that many devout Catholics suffering from depression need no reminder that they are sinners and aren't entirely right with God.

I think people need to clarify what they mean by "happiness." I tend to view "happiness" in more superficial terms, the sense of being a passing emotion or mood. Perhaps the kind of "happiness" that ironmonk is referring to is what I understand to be "joy." Something more interior, more associated with the conscience, will, and response to the grace of God.

[Era Might]

The Church recognizes clinical depression:

[quote]Decisions that go against life sometimes arise from difficult or even tragic situations of profound suffering, loneliness, a total lack of economic prospects, [b]depression[/b] and anxiety about the future. [b]Such circumstances can mitigate even to a notable degree subjective responsibility[/b] and the consequent culpability of those who make these choices which in themselves are evil.

--Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter "Evangelium Vitae" #18[/quote]

[ironmonk]

A change of one's point of view can "cure" depression. Depression is a wrong outlook.

Some say "oh it's chemical" - That is one theory. Chemicals in the brain can be created due to emotions, and chemicals can influence emotion.

Many people who are depressed are depressed because they have it too easy. So many people are depressed over the most trivial things. They need to change their outlook and look at things in a positive light instead of negative. They can change this if they want. They can control themselves... they have to make a conscious effort to do so, but it can be done. Many people who are depressed are too self focused instead of focusing on helping others.

[Noel's angel]

I think you need to change your outlook....

[Nicole8223]

St. Francis de Sales talks about depression. I'll paraphrase because its long:

Sadness comes about someone because the soul perceives that some evil has befallen her. She becomes anxious to get rid of the evil. The soul is faced with two choices: First, she will seek the means of her deliverance with patience, meekness, humility, and tranquility, expecting it more from the providence of God than from her own industry or diligence. OR she will seek deliverance from a motive of self-love, and she will grow tired in her quest, as if the success depended more on herself than on God. This sadness then turns into depression.


The first time I read that, I felt so confused...how could depression stem from self-love? But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Depression has its roots in pride because all it is, when it comes down to it, is a lack of trusting in God's providence. When we look to ourselves for answers, we find none and are left with feelings of hopelessness, and thus, depression. So, I totally agree with what ironmonk is saying. Whether a doctor says depression is clinical or not, it is still the result of self-love. Through a practice of humility and prayer, one can trust that God will lead them away from this.