What should I do if I feel hopeless or depressed?

[shanishani7]

Recently I feel Hopeless, no hope on anything at all. I can’t see the future.
People are gone, things are taken away by others.
And I have no motivation on work and anything.

When I cry to God, there is nothing change.
God is far away.
Only darkness in my soul.

Is there a “death of soul” period for those who believe in God ? Is this tempted by Satan? Can anyone explain?

What should I do?

 

[Eric_Hyom]

I met a man who has been homeless for several years, he said, that every day he wakes up, he finds things to thank God for. Somewhere to sleep, something to eat, somewhere to wash, the strength to keep going another day.

I met another homeless man, he must have told me a dozen times, that God loves him.

Lord, grant me the peace and serenity to live with the things I cannot change.
Give me the courage to change the things I can.
And the wisdom to know the difference.

This is a profound prayer, like the homeless people, there often seems very little in our lives that we are able to change, so we pray for the peace and serenity to cope with them.

Possibly one of the few things we are able to change, is the thoughts that go on in our head, so we try and change these thoughts of despair to hope.

The wisdom to know the difference, is key, if you constantly try and change the things that cannot be changed, this can lead to depression.

Try and fight all battles with loving kindness, try and help others, by helping other people you also help to heal yourself.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, Lord grant me the peace and serenity to live this day and every day, knowing that you hold me in the palm of your hand.

Blessings and prayers

Eric

 

[Mintaka]

If you are clinically depressed in a long term way, that’s because your brain is just missing some chemicals. Obviously you want to deal with that by getting medical treatment.

If you are feeling that God is distant and that your prayers don’t reach Him, that is called “spiritual dryness,” and it’s a natural stage in prayer life that happens sometimes. You just keep on praying like you’ve been doing, and eventually it goes away. God is still there. He is just being quiet.

If you are feeling bad because bad things have been happening, but it hasn’t been very long, you can do a lot of things.

1. Make sure you are eating, sleeping, drinking liquids, etc. Take care of your body.
2. Go outside in the sun or take Vitamin D. Exercise. Get the sadness out.
3. Do something that makes you cheerful.
4. Keep praying. Take time to listen to God as well as cry out to Him. Ask Him for peace.
5. Remember that Jesus also lost everything and had friends turn their backs on Him. Offer your sadness to Him.

 

[St_Francis]

I treat thoughts of despair and hopelessness as temptations and ask Jesus, His mother, my Guardian Angel, and St Michael for help! Sometimes these types of thoughts overwhelm me and there is no particular reason for it. Even when there seems to be a reason, I do the same thing, because I know that I need to put my trust back in God.

Sometimes I have to do this over and over, and sometimes after it’s been gone for a bit, the thoughts will return and I have to pray the same way again.

Now that I have been doing that for a time, I find that sometimes I get different types of thoughts, and I have to treat them as temptations too. Sometimes little daydreams that I zap some annoying person, or sometimes little temptations against my mortifications, like getting extremely humgry on the day I decided to eat only a little bit.

God understands that these will happen to us, but He does want us to fight against them by relying on His help, and to get up when we fall, which we so often do!

 

[ClearWater]

Recently I feel Hopeless, no hope on anything at all. I can’t see the future.
People are gone, things are taken away by others.
And I have no motivation on work and anything.

When I cry to God, there is nothing change.
God is far away.
Only darkness in my soul.

Is there a “death of soul” period for those who believe in God ? Is this tempted by Satan? Can anyone explain?

What should I do?

I would encourage you to go to a counselor and see if you have depression. If you do, then see if you can get some counseling, and/or medication.

Some people get depressed during this time of year due to the lack of light with Seasonal Affective Disorder, and are actually fine when the sun comes back out! Some of these folks just need a little help getting over that hump. Some of these respond even to light, believe it or not.

It depends why you are depressed. Some people are depressed due to some circumstance, current or past.

Others have a hereditary predisposition towards depression. Depression often does run in some families.

Some folks have insomnia, and chronic insomnia can actually cause depression. Depression can cause insomnia. So, if there’s a sleep disorder, it’s important to get that under control.

There are so many causes that it’s best to probably head to a professional.

Sometimes, depression can also be a symptom of something else. For instance, one can have something else, and the depression can accompany the other.

This is why it’s good to see an expert, in my opinion, not try to experiment with this.

My ex-husband had panic attacks, didn’t want to see a psychiatrist, I imagine due to the stigma of it. So, he got an antidepressant from his regular MD. However, the reason he was depressed was because he had obsessive-compulsive disorder. The antidepressant did nothing for the obsessions, just made him a happy obsessive compulsive! The depression came with the obsessive compulsive disorder, not by itself.

Some people have depression due to hormonal problems.

For years, I had a undiagnosed thyroid problem, which can cause depression.

Menopause can cause depression.

There is an entire laundry list of causes of depression, so again, best to take this up with a professional.

With depression, it can make one feel “numb”, “dead”, that it’s a chronic sadness, lack of purpose, motivation, lack of energy, that it can be difficult to even get out of bed in the morning.

I just wanted to say that there IS hope.

Some say that sadness is like a cold, and depression is the emotional equivalent of cancer. I wouldn’t mess with depression. Please talk to a counselor about the depression, and get help. If you want to go to an MD to rule out something hormonal, that would also be okay, but for treatment, I’d say to see a counselor. My ex-husband tried to resolve this emotional issue with an MD, and he got the wrong treatment.

I’d say to go to a professional in that area, not to mess with this, and this probably CAN be treated, might take a few weeks, but just try to give the process a chance. You can have your life back, though, I believe.

Good luck!

 

[Robyn_p]

Recently I feel Hopeless, no hope on anything at all. I can’t see the future.
People are gone, things are taken away by others.
And I have no motivation on work and anything.

When I cry to God, there is nothing change.
God is far away.
Only darkness in my soul.

Is there a “death of soul” period for those who believe in God ? Is this tempted by Satan? Can anyone explain?

What should I do?

I know exactly what you are feeling, as I have been in this same boat for months. It does not last forever though, there will be moments of light again, do not give up.

To answer your question, yes, there is a period like this that I believe everyone who loves God and strives to do his will goes through. Sometimes it is called the dark night of the soul, sometimes it is called desolation. Some saints described it as a purifying or a testing. There’s a time when everything that made prayer and religion sweet is taken away and all we are left with is faith. It’s a necessary, though painful, process, because otherwise we would begin to seek these good feelings for their own sake, and not God. Basically, the dark night forces us to ask ourselves, which do we love more? Do we love the God of consolations, or do we love the consolations of God??

God is not truly gone, though it feels like it. He is there with you in the depth of the darkness. That’s what the crucifixion shows us. God is not distant and detached, watching us far away in heaven. He is with us more in our pain and sorrow than at any other time. He was abandoned by the people closest to him. He was rejected by his own nation. He died alone. Broken, beaten, naked. There is no suffering that we can experience that he did not endure himself. He’s there. He knows. You are not alone.

The thing you need to do is exactly the thing you don’t want to do right now, and what the devil is going to try his hardest to keep you from. Prayer. If you can’t use your own words, read the psalms, there are so many good ones. Say the chaplet, go to adoration. Just don’t give up. God has not abandoned you. This storm will not last forever.

 

[7_Sorrows]

Recently I feel Hopeless, no hope on anything at all. I can’t see the future.
People are gone, things are taken away by others.
And I have no motivation on work and anything.

When I cry to God, there is nothing change.
God is far away.
Only darkness in my soul.

Is there a “death of soul” period for those who believe in God ? Is this tempted by Satan? Can anyone explain?

What should I do?

Christmas is supposed to be a joyous time of year, but actually it can be a really difficult time if you are alone or if you are grieving the death of a loved one or grieving any kind of loss.

I recommend seeing a counselor or get some kind of therapy.
It does help to talk to someone and feel like you have some kind of support. Negative thoughts have a way of outweighing the positive thoughts and your mind can exaggerate the negative thoughts and it makes it harder to see things how they really are. Depression can distort the thinking. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to reach out for help, but it is better than feeling bad and overwhelmed.
God wants you to be happy.

 

[ClearWater]

Again, so many things cause depression. In older males, you have andropause. In a woman who just had a baby, there is post-partum depression.

Some people have chronic pain, and that, in and of itself, can help lead to depression.

The list goes on…

While prayer is good and helpful, there are times when it’s prudent to seek outside help for one’s own mental health.

My mother used to have chronic insomnia for years, said she’d feel like crying for no reason. I told her to get that sleep issue under control, and that took care of the depression. She didn’t need to do anything else.

One needs to get at the root cause.

You’d need to try to figure out how long this has been going on…weeks…months…years? Get at the cause.

Often, if you have health insurance, it will often cover a few visits with a counselor.

 

[ClearWater]

That’s right!

I’ve been to both counseling and on medication.

Turned out I had a bunch of things going on unbeknownst to me! Well, I had an underactive thyroid. That can cause depression. I was also in menopause. THAT can cause depression. I have chronic pain, and THAT can cause depression. I have a strong family of history for depression.

I have one relative who had a reputation of being a bit of a grump. Finally, at the end of her life, she talked to a good doctor who said, “You’re depressed!”, got her medication.

In her case, she said medication was the best thing that ever happened to her! She said she was a new person, had a whole new life. Her only regret was not having discovered them years ago! After that, she also wasn’t grumpy any more, pleasant and beautiful.

 

[ClearWater]

In the meantime, can you also try to watch uplifting, inspiring movies, listen to happy music, and probably avoid watching the news for a while?

 

[meltzerboy]

I would encourage you to go to a counselor and see if you have depression. If you do, then see if you can get some counseling, and/or medication.

Some people get depressed during this time of year due to the lack of light with Seasonal Affective Disorder, and are actually fine when the sun comes back out! Some of these folks just need a little help getting over that hump. Some of these respond even to light, believe it or not.

It depends why you are depressed. Some people are depressed due to some circumstance, current or past.

Others have a hereditary predisposition towards depression. Depression often does run in some families.

Some folks have insomnia, and chronic insomnia can actually cause depression. Depression can cause insomnia. So, if there’s a sleep disorder, it’s important to get that under control.

There are so many causes that it’s best to probably head to a professional.

Sometimes, depression can also be a symptom of something else. For instance, one can have something else, and the depression can accompany the other.

This is why it’s good to see an expert, in my opinion, not try to experiment with this.

My ex-husband had panic attacks, didn’t want to see a psychiatrist, I imagine due to the stigma of it. So, he got an antidepressant from his regular MD. However, the reason he was depressed was because he had obsessive-compulsive disorder. The antidepressant did nothing for the obsessions, just made him a happy obsessive compulsive! The depression came with the obsessive compulsive disorder, not by itself.

Some people have depression due to hormonal problems.

For years, I had a undiagnosed thyroid problem, which can cause depression.

Menopause can cause depression.

There is an entire laundry list of causes of depression, so again, best to take this up with a professional.

With depression, it can make one feel “numb”, “dead”, that it’s a chronic sadness, lack of purpose, motivation, lack of energy, that it can be difficult to even get out of bed in the morning.

I just wanted to say that there IS hope.

Some say that sadness is like a cold, and depression is the emotional equivalent of cancer. I wouldn’t mess with depression. Please talk to a counselor about the depression, and get help. If you want to go to an MD to rule out something hormonal, that would also be okay, but for treatment, I’d say to see a counselor. My ex-husband tried to resolve this emotional issue with an MD, and he got the wrong treatment.

I’d say to go to a professional in that area, not to mess with this, and this probably CAN be treated, might take a few weeks, but just try to give the process a chance. You can have your life back, though, I believe.

Good luck!

Excellent advice! I would just add that a counselor may be a clinical psychologist, a social worker, a psychiatrist (the latter being an M.D.), or occasionally a counseling psychologist. Usually, a combination of some type of psychotherapy (cognitive-behavioral, psychoanalytic) and pharmacotherapy (medication) works well if the depression is major. Sometimes medication is not needed.

 

[phil_at_dayboro]

Recently I feel Hopeless, no hope on anything at all. I can’t see the future.
People are gone, things are taken away by others.
And I have no motivation on work and anything.

When I cry to God, there is nothing change.
God is far away.
Only darkness in my soul.

Is there a “death of soul” period for those who believe in God ? Is this tempted by Satan? Can anyone explain?

What should I do?

Wiser words than mine have already been said here,
Many of us have been where you are, is there any social group you could involve yourself with ?
Is there anyone on C A. That you have become friends with that could become like a buddy that you can talk to ?
Your not alone here, please don’t forget that, although were scattered around the world,
We are all part of the same family ,

 

[BLP]

I totally understand where you are coming from. I experience the same thing. I find that the busier I stay, the better off I am. Do charity work, do something to help others and that will help, too.
Good luck!