Since the pandemic, the number of people “clinically” depressed has sky-rocketed. According to a report by the CDC, about 40% of U.S. adults admitted to some kind of mental health struggle. Even before COVID, depression was the number one reason people sought some form of psychotherapy. Since then “anti-anxiety drugs in particular have soared by up to 31%, suggesting uncertainties over health and financial impacts are taking their toll, while antidepressant prescriptions have also risen steadily, up by double-figure percentages.”

Depression is not the same thing as discouragement. We all, at times, get discouraged. Depression is a deeper form of discouragement that hinders a person’s normal life cycles. It can produce an inability to cope with seemingly minor frustrations and a desire to give up and stop trying. More serious forms often lead to thoughts of self-harm and even suicide.

While there are some diseases that contribute to symptoms of depression, I want to propose something that runs counter to most popular, secular approaches of dealing with functional depression. I’ll frame it as a question: What if depression itself is just a symptom of the real problem?

If this is true, then seeking to alleviate the symptoms of depression without addressing the cause is like pulling the fuse in your car that operates the warning light. Moreover, if you reject the biblical view of humanity, you eliminate any hope of understanding the real problem beneath functional depression, along with any hope of discovering God’s answer.

The root of depression

Functional depression is rooted in idolatry, which is to put something or someone in the place of God. This happens when you let a desire (which might be for a good thing, like a relationship) become a ruling desire in your heart—something you think you need to have or can’t live without. Anything you treasure above God, whether it’s a career, a person, financial gain, or some achievement, becomes an idol. The apostle Paul referred to ruling desires as “deceitful lusts.” That is, your feelings trick you into thinking you can’t be happy without them.

Depression results when your ruling desire is disappointed (or you come to believe it will be). In addition to toppled idolatry, depression may also rear its head as a remnant of unbelief (“I must have something other than God and his promises”) or frustrated legalism (“I have to be or do something other than what God requires”).

Ultimately, depression should point us to our deepest problem: that our hearts instinctively reject God and instead seek ways to live for our own glory, pursue our own happiness, and forget that our lives find their true meaning as part of God’s redemptive story rather than our own little moment of life.

God’s answer to depression

Since depression is ultimately a heart issue, the first step is always heartfelt repentance. God wants your heart back. In ancient times, tearing clothes signified immense grief—God wants us to have this kind of grief and repentance over our sinful hearts: “‘Even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’ Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” (Joel 2:13)

The second step is replacing sinful heart beliefs with the heart-changing truths of Scripture. Spending quality time daily with the Lord is a prerequisite for a healthy heart. The Bible gives us everything we need to know God’s will and what he wants us to do, but it is not a “self-help” book that seeks our personal happiness as the goal. The Bible is a narrative, a story of redemption, and its chief character is Jesus Christ. “Only as we see our story enfolded in the larger story of redemption will we begin to live God-honoring lives. Lasting change begins when our identity, purpose, and sense of direction are defined by God’s story,” writes Paul Tripp in Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands.

The final step is obedience to the will of God. The Christian life requires both self-discipline and dependence on the Holy Spirit to rein in desires that lead contrary to God’s will. The Bible has a lot to say about “self-control” and failure to exercise it puts you at the mercy of your desires. Disobedience produces guilt, and ignoring guilt often leads to more disobedience as we seek to solve our problems in unscriptural ways.

The scripture says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

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COVID got you down? Are you struggling with depression? Begin your comeback right now by repenting, believing, and obeying God, getting into God’s Word. I always encourage people to start with Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Then commit to living in obedience to God’s will as you understand it. Whatever you know you should do, do it, trusting God to give you wisdom and strength.