A lot of people are weighing in on Robin Williams. Here are my thoughts:
The challenge regarding depression is that the Christian mind is also conditioned by the human brain. When I break my arm, I can easily make the choice to say, “This will get better. There is hope. I can press through this. It will heal.” In mental illness, the equipment itself with which you process rational thought becomes damaged, and decisions–though yes, decisions–become much more murky.
It takes both a renewing of the mind and working on the organ chemically at times to restore hope. Many Christians poo-poo psychiatry and say, “if you merely had faith and trusted God, this wouldn’t be happening.” Yet some with depression are desperately exhibiting MORE faith because they are flying only by the instruments through the dark skies as they see no horizon and are trying not to descend into the metaphorical hell that comes with severe anxiety-depression. Others would say, “Find the right pill and all things will be back to normal.” That doesn’t work either.
Is it a choice to not end it all? Yes! But that choice, when your choosing mechanism is damaged, requires the Body of Christ around you to help you think straight when everything within you is skewed to exit stage left. We need one another to speak hope, life, truth, comfort, God’s love and our new identity in Christ to help the depressed to avoid making the ultimate bad decision. Let us be about bringing HOPE!
