Religious Organizations
TESS
Can the church help people who are suffering from depression?
The answer is "yes". You can go to a church service and let yourself be carried along by the singing, the words, and the prayers. In your everyday life, the church is a place that you can enter. You can be enveloped by the content and meaning of the place. The church can be seen as a more visible presence of God.
You can also talk to the priest or pastor. At all churches, there will be a priest or pastor who you can contact and talk to. Priests or pastors have many such discussions and consider it to be an important part of their work. You need have no concerns about contacting a priest or pastor. You will be welcomed with open arms.
Priests and pastors do of course differ individually. Doctors do too. If you should find that you don't meet with understanding, you can go to another priest or pastor. The priests and pastors have taken a vow of professional secrecy. This means that they cannot disclose any information to anyone else unless you wish them to or have given them permission to do so first.
Can you go to a priest or pastor at the same time as you are receiving treatment?
Normally, the answer is "yes" but it would be natural for you to tell the priest that you are receiving treatment. It would also be sensible to tell the person who is treating you that you are talking to a priest or pastor. This would be particularly wise if you are having regular discussions with the priest or pastor.
In some situations, it can be confusing to be having regular discussions with a psychotherapist and a priest or pastor at the same time. You can talk to the priest or pastor and your psychotherapist about this problem. Together, you will be able to find a solution.
Many hospitals have a hospital priest or pastor. You can also contact the priest or pastor directly yourself or arrange contact via a nurse.
Discussions with a priest or pastor
It is difficult to be yourself if you are suffering from depression. Depression is an illness which raises many existential questions. You will also often have to fight feelings of inferiority, self-hatred or guilt. You may be feeling as though you are a bad person. You might be feeling that other people do not want to have anything to do with you. Does God want to have anything to do with you? Or does it just feel as though God is remote?
It can be difficult to keep the hope and to keep on believing in a compassionate God. You may therefore need to talk to a priest or pastor. The priest or pastor can support and help you with discussions. Many priests and pastors have a lot of experience talking to people who are depressed. It is apparent time after time that it can help to talk about what hurts. To believe is a part of our life. When you are finding life difficult, it can also affect your belief and your relationship with God. It's the same for everyone. So it is therefore not so surprising that for some people it is particularly difficult to believe or to see any meaning in anything when they are depressed. When your depression treatment starts to work, your emotional life and belief will generally return to normal. Even if you continue to experience problems when you have recovered, they will rarely be of the same intensity as during the illness.