“I’ll be darned if I understand you city folks. Always rushing, rushing, rushing. Always thinking about the future. No wonder you have stomach trouble,” said Joe E. Brown, a station master in the movie Around the World in 80 Days. Joe was right—we are an anxious bunch!
Everyone feels stressed and anxious sometimes. With all we are trying to do and be on a daily basis, it is no wonder that feelings of anxiety and depression are becoming increasingly common. In fact, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety and depression are the most common mental illnesses in America, affecting more than 40 million adults every year. Whether your anxiety and depression interfere with your daily functioning or you just want to know how to cope with the normal ups and downs of life, Christian counseling might be able to help.
A Christian counselor brings together the most helpful aspects of theology and psychology to help patents find solutions and healing. Theology is the study of God, and psychology is the study of the psyche or the human mind. In Christian counseling, this combination of theology and psychology recognizes that humans are both physical and spiritual beings. This is called a holistic approach, addressing the “whole” of what makes us human to gain greater healing.
By the time a person chooses to seek out a counselor, they often do so as a last resort. People also sometimes feel hesitant to attend counseling. However, counseling does not mean that you have failed, and it doesn’t mean you are weak. A counselor is to your mental health, as a mechanic is to your car. Sometimes, you need an experienced professional to help figure out a problem and work toward a solution. When it comes to anxiety and depression, a Christian counselor partners with you, using faith-based activities, called interventions or strategies, to lead you towards appropriate solutions.
How should we understand anxiety and depression from a Christian perspective, and what are some faith-based strategies for coping? Read on to find out!
Understanding Anxiety and Depression from a Christian Perspective
What are anxiety and depression? Anxiety includes excessive worry for more than six months that interferes with daily functioning or your ability to do what you need to do every day. This can result in irritability, fatigue, and a host of other symptoms.
Depression, on the other hand, includes intense feelings of sadness, fatigue, and diminished interest in activities you may have once enjoyed. It’s like a gray blanket has covered your entire world, and you have trouble finding your way out. As Emily Brontë once described in her famous work The Complete Poems, “All our hearts were the mansions of distress.”
Both anxiety and depression can be caused by your current circumstances, unhelpful thoughts, family history, trauma, stress, or illness. Anxiety and depression can affect everyday life, causing trouble for your relationships, work, and physical health.
Even some biblical figures displayed symptoms of depression and anxiety. In 1 Kings 19, a prophet named Elijah thought he was the only person left alive following his God. The prophet is shown experiencing sadness, fear, and hopelessness. But in this story, God did not chastise the prophet. Instead, the Lord took great care of Elijah’s physical well-being and encouraged him with truth. In Christian counseling, we follow this same strategy–meeting a person where they are and gently encouraging them towards healing.
Strategies for Coping with Anxiety
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a commonly practiced form of therapy that effectively treats anxiety and depression. These conditions often include false assumptions, limiting beliefs, and negative thought processes, and we can address unhelpful thoughts by replacing them with positive and true thoughts. This practice is also encouraged by Scripture; Romans 12:2 challenges us to be transformed by renewing our minds. Our minds are renewed and refreshed when we soak them in truth from God’s word.
CBT encourages us to list out what stresses us, the negative or unhelpful thoughts that spring up as a result, and the feelings that those thoughts produce. Then, a second list is made, combating the negative thoughts with what is known to be true. In Christian counseling, we would combat the lies of anxiety with truth from God’s word.
Memorizing key scriptures is important here; those scriptures are weapons against negative thoughts and temptations. Fill your quiver with those arrows, and you will be ready to combat the lies of anxiety with God’s truth. As the missionary Paul encouraged the church in Philippi:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Let’s look at two examples of using CBT in a Christian context:
When in the throes of anxiety and depression, you may think: “I’m too scared to move forward,” or “God doesn’t care about what I’m going through.” The first thought statement is a limiting belief, and the second is a false assumption. How would we address these thoughts using CBT in Christian counseling?
Taking Action and Facing Your Fears
While it’s true that we must overcome fear with faith, we cannot reduce coping with anxiety down to a trite mug or t-shirt slogan. Taking action and facing your fears takes work. It takes bravery. When a young boy named David faced a mighty soldier named Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, it took courage to act despite his fears.
Joshua, the man who led the Israelites into the promised land after his mentor Moses died, had to be told again and again to “be strong and courageous” in Joshua 1. This courage was not based on himself but on the fact that God would be with him. We must remember that part of God’s character is his faithfulness, and if he has been faithful to his people in the past, he will be faithful now and in the future as well. Like Joshua, we can be strong and courageous because God is with us.
So, with this in mind, every time we think, “I am too scared to move forward,” we intentionally tell the truth to ourselves. In this case, “I can be strong and courageous because God is with me.”
Casting Your Cares Upon God
In 1 Peter 5:7, we are told to cast our cares on God because he cares for us. Looking at the Greek, the original language of the New Testament, it is as if God is saying, “Cast all your cares on me because every little thing about you is of concern to Me.” We are not designed to carry our burdens by ourselves; even oxen were yoked in pairs. Here, God invites us to let go of our worries, surrender our anxieties to him, and rest in who he is and what he can do. It can be difficult to release control, but we can trust God to be faithful and compassionate with everything we give him.
Prayer has an inherent power for calming the mind because it helps us get our thoughts off of ourselves and onto the Lord. In anxiety, we turn inward and become self-focused; prayer turns our thoughts outward and upward. When we praise him, when we thank him, when we tell him everything that is going on in our lives, and when we lament before him, our prayers help remind us of what is important and true.
Power of Positive Thinking
So you have the false assumption that “God doesn’t care about what I’m going through,” then you can replace this thought with one that is true: “God cares for me and wants me to bring everything to him in prayer.”
Your counselor may also encourage you to practice meditation. Both Eastern and Christian meditation encourage focusing on the present rather than the hurts of the past or the what-ifs of the future. However, while Eastern meditation seeks to clear the mind, Christian meditation seeks to fill it. To do so, we focus on a Scripture passage or a truth from God’s word and think about it deeply. When you eat a very tasty morsel of food, you want to savor it and take your time eating it; Christian meditation is much the same. We allow our minds to savor God’s truth, thinking about each word and letting it wash over our minds to take the place of our anxious thoughts.
Innovative Therapies
Along with CBT, innovative therapies that include creativity and movement have proven to be very effective in treating anxiety and depression. From expressive therapies to using volunteerism as an intervention, there are many nontraditional ways of addressing these issues, such as:
Expressive Therapies
Expressive therapies are becoming increasingly important in the world of Christian counseling as we discover healing through creativity.
Art therapy, for instance, allows clients to express emotions when they have trouble finding the words to say. While art has been used for many years in therapy with children and families, more and more adults are finding this creative release to be helpful. Artistic expression is linked to worship and can further our connection to the Lord. God is a creative God, and when we, too, are creative, we reflect that aspect of his image in us. It can be a worshipful experience worth trying.
Cinema therapy is another way art can be helpful for anxiety. The world of Christian cinema continues to improve in both quality and depth. It has become a viable means of helping us to reflect on our own emotions and motivations. It can be encouraging to see what living out your faith looks like in the middle of a struggle.
Walk-and-Talk Therapy in Nature
This healing strategy, also called nature therapy, is as simple as it sounds–you are walking and talking out in nature. This has been shown to lower cortisol levels. Cortisol is the primary fight-or-flight chemical in your brain, which can make you feel excited or anxious. Nature also enhances our spiritual connection to the Lord. Our thoughts can’t help but turn to the power and majesty of God when surrounded by His creation.
Serving Others to Find Purpose
If you’re noticing a theme here of getting our focus off of ourselves, you’d be correct. Negative thoughts can become like well-worn paths in our minds; over time, it becomes easier to take the well-worn path. Serving others is one of the ways in which we can get off of that well-worn path of depressed and anxious thinking. Volunteering at a church or in the community has many benefits. Helping others can alleviate feelings of emptiness and purposelessness. When we serve, we find that we are wanted and needed and have a beneficial role to fulfill for those around us.
The Role of Community
Our community–people we engage with regularly–is vital in the healing journey. Community support groups, small groups at a church, and online support groups as well can provide needed fellowship with others. In the community, we can see that we are not alone in our struggles. Everyone is carrying a burden of some kind, and it is helpful when we can lean upon others and allow them to lean upon us.
Overcoming Stigma and Encouraging Professional Help
It can be frustrating when you encounter someone who doesn’t understand the important role that mental health plays in our lives. We must encourage open conversations about mental health, and we need to help others realize that it is normal to struggle and that it is good to seek help for it.
How do you know when you should seek help from a Christian counselor?
When your anxiety or depression begins to interfere with your daily functioning and relationships, it might be time to consult with a counselor. If you have feelings of helplessness or hopelessness and/or thoughts of suicide or self-harm, immediate help is necessary. It brings God no glory to have a drastic, permanent solution to a temporary problem. Seeking help is a step of faith. It is a statement of hope that God can and will provide the help you need. Christian counselors are trained to provide the utmost care and concern for your well-being. They can be used by God to help you get back on track where you can serve him best.
Practical Steps for Readers
“Self-care” is a buzzword in our society today. Every other social post seems to shout about its importance and the ten different ways you can treat yourself. However, for the Christian, self-care takes on a different tone. Our self-care is an issue of stewardship. A steward is someone who looks after another’s belongings. Our bodies and minds are given to us by God. It is our duty to take care of or steward them.
Proper self-care can include creating a healthy daily routine and practicing spiritual disciplines like journaling or having a daily devotional time. It is also important to rest and to set aside time each week to spend time with those you care about and do activities that fill you up instead of draining you. Keeping our routines simple, doable, and focused on bringing glory to God instead of self will go a long way toward helping us maintain good mental health.
You can take action against anxiety and depression. We know that putting our faith into action is not easy. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can face our fears and set reasonable, achievable goals for ourselves. Meeting with a Christian counselor can be beneficial, providing a professionally trained support resource for your mental health journey.
We have only scratched the surface on some realistic ways to help yourself deal with anxiety and depression. There are also more helpful strategies that you can expect in Christian counseling. Be encouraged that there is hope for healing. Remember that our powerful God is a God of healing and restoration. He has the power to help you in your time of need.
If you would like further help with anxiety and depression, specifically from a Christian counselor, please contact us.
Online Therapy in Florida, Idaho, South Carolina, and Utah
At Calming Transformations Counseling, our therapists understand how difficult it can be to manage anxiety, stress, depression, and relationship issues. We can help through online therapy in Florida, Idaho, South Carolina, or Utah or walk and talk therapy in Hillsborough County, Florida. Book an appointment or contact us today to schedule a session and take the first step toward a healthier, happier life. Remember, your mental health is important—take the time to care for yourself.
