There are a lot of people hurting today. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what week, month, or year you read that comment it would likely be true. It is the world that we live in. From the moment that Eve took the bite of the fruit in the garden and gave it to Adam to do the same, there has been hurt and pain in the world. And with hurt and pain there comes grief. Grief is by definition “the anguish experienced after significant loss” (American Psychological Association). Most of the time it comes from the death of a loved one but can also be experienced with the loss of any significant thing in life. Some experience grief over the loss of home or job or abilities.

Depression is a word that is thrown around a lot in today’s world. There are many people who claim to struggle with depression. Over 280 million people suffer from depression and it is the number one cause globally for disability in the workforce. Those numbers are probably even larger when you take into account that these are just the numbers that are reported. It is also important to understand that depression has quite the range of severity. There are those who suffer from what people could call the blues, ie. feelings of unhappiness, to severe depression that leaves the sufferer unable to get out of bed and lack of interest in everything.

“Today has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

“And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them ‘My should is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch” (Mark 14:32-34).

In last week’s blog I stated that we would be exploring thoughts on various mental health subjects as they relate to the Bible. As Solomon stated, “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The things that we struggle with today, in some shape, form, or fashion have been around since the beginning of time.

Over the next several weeks I plan to do a series of articles dealing with both the Biblical and therapeutic perspective of some of the top mental health struggles that we are seeing today. Many of us (yes, I said us) have sought counseling at various stages of our lives.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people[a] should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20

"Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior become your habits. Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny."

Several years ago the world was shocked to hear of the death of one of our generation's great comedians, Robin Williams. When I was younger I loved to watch the show Mork and Mindy and the Disney movie Aladdin is still one of my favorite movies of all times, due in part to Williams doing the voice of the genie. He starred in many amazing TV shows and movies and as you know he had an amazing talent to make people laugh. His tragic suicide, however, should serve to remind us of a few important things.