Post by George on May 21, 2006 22:40:42 GMT -5
Now I would like to discuss my personal experience with depression. I have had at least three and possibly four of what are called TBI’s (traumatic brain injuries) in my lifetime. I have also had one major experience with an ABT (acquired brain trauma) that resulted in having brain surgery twice in a three-week time frame. I have a piece of what I affectionately call “plastic fish tank tubing” installed in my head from behind the skull in the left frontal region all the way down into my stomach.
Because of these things and the fact that I suffered the bondage of alcoholism and drug addiction (read sin) for about 38 years I was told that I had organic brain damage. I was also told that I had a chemical imbalance in my brain and that I would need to take antidepressants and tranquilizers for the rest of my life. This despite the fact that after numerous CT scans of my brain there was no evidence of brain damage and no doctor had ever been able to show me through the results of a blood test or any other type of exam that there is any evidence of any chemical problem in my brain. There is no evidence of any kind to substantiate the idea that I need medication for the rest of my life even despite the rather serious brain traumas.
I used to experience almost constant panic and anxiety attacks, which were a manifestation of the depression I suffered for so many years. I had to be medicated to control them. The antidepressants took out the lows of my life but also took out all the highs. Not the chemical kind of highs that I chased after for so many years but the highs that come with experiencing life at its fullest in accordance with the Word of God. I did not have that in my life. The tranquilizers took away the panic and anxiety but basically the combination of the two medications turned me into an emotionless zombie.
I was a medical experiment for a number of doctors. That is why they call it a medical “practice” I guess. They were practicing on me. I was first put on Prozac. If I had taken it two days longer I would have killed someone. I was that stirred up and uncontrollably angry. When I realized what was doing it I discontinued the Prozac. Next they put me on Wellbutrin. Great stuff! All it did was make me quit smoking, which I needed to do anyway. The next step in the experiment was called Buspar. It was supposed to be non-addictive but all it did was make me feel really spacey and as if I was on pins and needles constantly. Then came Paxil. I started at 20mgs. Then I went to 25 then to 30 then to 40, the highest dosage allowed. It did nothing for me. I finally was placed on Zoloft, which controlled the lows but as I said it also eliminated the highs.
The point behind all this is that all of these drugs are SSRI’s. They are all the same class of drug. If there were truly a chemical imbalance you would think that one of them ought to control the problem. Not true. There is no chemical imbalance that has ever been proven so they were experimenting. The experiments work so well that I have a personal friend that was placed on an SSRI that caused him to become suicidal. I have another friend that was placed on all of close to 30 different antidepressants with no benefits ever taking place. Why would that be if the chemical imbalance were lack of Serotonin as the doctors say and this class of drugs is supposed to eliminate that problem?
That is because the chemical imbalance statement is merely a theory. It has never been proven. Yet so many Christians have accepted it as the gospel truth. Darwin’s writings on evolution are a theory. Do Christians accept them as truth? I certainly don’t know of any that do.
In my case, after coming to the Lord and being released from the bondage of alcohol and drugs through the redeeming blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and God’s grace I began to replace the depression, hopelessness and sadness in my life with joy. The Joy of the Word of the Lord. As it is said in the very first verse above, “Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” If there is not joy and rejoicing in my heart I am not in the Word of the Lord. I have gotten away from the Bible and the peace and comfort of God. This opens the door for all sorts of nasty things to happen.
(1Pe 5:6) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
(1Pe 5:7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
(1Pe 5:8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Casting ALL your care upon him. ALL of it. Not just some of it and keep what we want to. Not to hold any of it back. I chose to cast all my care upon Him. I discontinued all Psych meds almost two years ago. I replaced the depression and drugs in my life with the joy of the Lord. I am not advising anyone to throw his or her medications in the garbage. What I am saying is that the things relating to depression in the medical community today are theories. We are over medicated by a group of people that make money from the number of prescriptions they write. In this modern day of everyone being the same and even placing our children on addictive drugs for reasons that the children do not fit the mold of some stylized “perfect” child that someone has come up with. Our society has become addicted to many kinds of medications completely needlessly.
Even with all the things that the doctors told me I discontinued the medications and I have been happier than I ever have been in my life. Because of my past life I lost a 28-year marriage. I alienated the love and affections of my daughter who has not spoken to me in about 4 years. I lost a home that is worth at least $500,000 that had no mortgage on it. I lost my vehicle because the last time I was arrested I had been involved in a hit and run and it was pretty much wrecked when they towed it away. I could not afford the well over $1000 it would have cost to get it back. I lost my driver’s license for about 2 ½ years. I paid well over $5000 in fines and fees to the State of California. I had to go to a State mandated drinking driver program for 18 months. After I got saved I have dealt with cancer twice in 30 months. (Praise God that He saw fit to remove the cancer from my body.) What I am getting at is that if you look at all those bad things in my life if anyone has a “right” or a reason to be depressed it should be me. But I am not. I am happy every day. I can get higher on the Bible, a good sermon or a wonderful hymn than I was ever able to do on alcohol or drugs.
The point is that although I had been diagnosed with not only a “chemical imbalance” but organic brain damage also, none of it was true. It was only a theory that caused me to become an experiment for the doctors and drug companies for many years. If it was not organic brain damage or a “chemical imbalance” that caused the problem what could it have been? I was living in unrepented and unconfessed sin. That sin has been dealt with and no longer is a drain on my life. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
The evidence that depression is nothing more than sin is truth. It is Biblical Truth. I fully realize that there will be some that do not accept or agree with this. There are many that do not accept all the teachings of the Bible. Many. God’s Holy Word is not something to be treated lightly or taken in bits and pieces as we see fit. God’s Word is absolute Truth and is to be taken as just that.
Toward a conclusion of this study let me say this: I have done volumes of research on this subject because of my personal dealings with depression. I have done more research than could possibly be contained on the pages that could be displayed here. I have also lived all the aspects of it. The seeming hopelessness of depression and the personal joy that comes from living as closely as I can in the way the Lord desires me to live with His guidance and care.
People who suffer depression need all the love, compassion, care and encouragement they can we can possibly give them. Jesus taught of Two Commandments:
(Mat 22:37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
(Mat 22:38) This is the first and great commandment.
(Mat 22:39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(Mat 22:40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
However the Bible also requires the Spiritual correction of those that are in the midst of Biblical error.
(Gal 6:1) Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
This study was not meant nor prepared in the spirit of being accusatory, finger-pointing or uncaring. It was done in the Spirit of Christian Love and intended solely to emphasize the Bible in dealing with depression.
Because of these things and the fact that I suffered the bondage of alcoholism and drug addiction (read sin) for about 38 years I was told that I had organic brain damage. I was also told that I had a chemical imbalance in my brain and that I would need to take antidepressants and tranquilizers for the rest of my life. This despite the fact that after numerous CT scans of my brain there was no evidence of brain damage and no doctor had ever been able to show me through the results of a blood test or any other type of exam that there is any evidence of any chemical problem in my brain. There is no evidence of any kind to substantiate the idea that I need medication for the rest of my life even despite the rather serious brain traumas.
I used to experience almost constant panic and anxiety attacks, which were a manifestation of the depression I suffered for so many years. I had to be medicated to control them. The antidepressants took out the lows of my life but also took out all the highs. Not the chemical kind of highs that I chased after for so many years but the highs that come with experiencing life at its fullest in accordance with the Word of God. I did not have that in my life. The tranquilizers took away the panic and anxiety but basically the combination of the two medications turned me into an emotionless zombie.
I was a medical experiment for a number of doctors. That is why they call it a medical “practice” I guess. They were practicing on me. I was first put on Prozac. If I had taken it two days longer I would have killed someone. I was that stirred up and uncontrollably angry. When I realized what was doing it I discontinued the Prozac. Next they put me on Wellbutrin. Great stuff! All it did was make me quit smoking, which I needed to do anyway. The next step in the experiment was called Buspar. It was supposed to be non-addictive but all it did was make me feel really spacey and as if I was on pins and needles constantly. Then came Paxil. I started at 20mgs. Then I went to 25 then to 30 then to 40, the highest dosage allowed. It did nothing for me. I finally was placed on Zoloft, which controlled the lows but as I said it also eliminated the highs.
The point behind all this is that all of these drugs are SSRI’s. They are all the same class of drug. If there were truly a chemical imbalance you would think that one of them ought to control the problem. Not true. There is no chemical imbalance that has ever been proven so they were experimenting. The experiments work so well that I have a personal friend that was placed on an SSRI that caused him to become suicidal. I have another friend that was placed on all of close to 30 different antidepressants with no benefits ever taking place. Why would that be if the chemical imbalance were lack of Serotonin as the doctors say and this class of drugs is supposed to eliminate that problem?
That is because the chemical imbalance statement is merely a theory. It has never been proven. Yet so many Christians have accepted it as the gospel truth. Darwin’s writings on evolution are a theory. Do Christians accept them as truth? I certainly don’t know of any that do.
In my case, after coming to the Lord and being released from the bondage of alcohol and drugs through the redeeming blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and God’s grace I began to replace the depression, hopelessness and sadness in my life with joy. The Joy of the Word of the Lord. As it is said in the very first verse above, “Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” If there is not joy and rejoicing in my heart I am not in the Word of the Lord. I have gotten away from the Bible and the peace and comfort of God. This opens the door for all sorts of nasty things to happen.
(1Pe 5:6) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
(1Pe 5:7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
(1Pe 5:8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Casting ALL your care upon him. ALL of it. Not just some of it and keep what we want to. Not to hold any of it back. I chose to cast all my care upon Him. I discontinued all Psych meds almost two years ago. I replaced the depression and drugs in my life with the joy of the Lord. I am not advising anyone to throw his or her medications in the garbage. What I am saying is that the things relating to depression in the medical community today are theories. We are over medicated by a group of people that make money from the number of prescriptions they write. In this modern day of everyone being the same and even placing our children on addictive drugs for reasons that the children do not fit the mold of some stylized “perfect” child that someone has come up with. Our society has become addicted to many kinds of medications completely needlessly.
Even with all the things that the doctors told me I discontinued the medications and I have been happier than I ever have been in my life. Because of my past life I lost a 28-year marriage. I alienated the love and affections of my daughter who has not spoken to me in about 4 years. I lost a home that is worth at least $500,000 that had no mortgage on it. I lost my vehicle because the last time I was arrested I had been involved in a hit and run and it was pretty much wrecked when they towed it away. I could not afford the well over $1000 it would have cost to get it back. I lost my driver’s license for about 2 ½ years. I paid well over $5000 in fines and fees to the State of California. I had to go to a State mandated drinking driver program for 18 months. After I got saved I have dealt with cancer twice in 30 months. (Praise God that He saw fit to remove the cancer from my body.) What I am getting at is that if you look at all those bad things in my life if anyone has a “right” or a reason to be depressed it should be me. But I am not. I am happy every day. I can get higher on the Bible, a good sermon or a wonderful hymn than I was ever able to do on alcohol or drugs.
The point is that although I had been diagnosed with not only a “chemical imbalance” but organic brain damage also, none of it was true. It was only a theory that caused me to become an experiment for the doctors and drug companies for many years. If it was not organic brain damage or a “chemical imbalance” that caused the problem what could it have been? I was living in unrepented and unconfessed sin. That sin has been dealt with and no longer is a drain on my life. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
The evidence that depression is nothing more than sin is truth. It is Biblical Truth. I fully realize that there will be some that do not accept or agree with this. There are many that do not accept all the teachings of the Bible. Many. God’s Holy Word is not something to be treated lightly or taken in bits and pieces as we see fit. God’s Word is absolute Truth and is to be taken as just that.
Toward a conclusion of this study let me say this: I have done volumes of research on this subject because of my personal dealings with depression. I have done more research than could possibly be contained on the pages that could be displayed here. I have also lived all the aspects of it. The seeming hopelessness of depression and the personal joy that comes from living as closely as I can in the way the Lord desires me to live with His guidance and care.
People who suffer depression need all the love, compassion, care and encouragement they can we can possibly give them. Jesus taught of Two Commandments:
(Mat 22:37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
(Mat 22:38) This is the first and great commandment.
(Mat 22:39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(Mat 22:40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
However the Bible also requires the Spiritual correction of those that are in the midst of Biblical error.
(Gal 6:1) Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
This study was not meant nor prepared in the spirit of being accusatory, finger-pointing or uncaring. It was done in the Spirit of Christian Love and intended solely to emphasize the Bible in dealing with depression.