[This is the first of two posts about this subject.]

Something I feel like a lot of Christians don’t talk about enough is mental health. I read a book called Depression, Anxiety, and Other Things We Don’t Want to Talk About by Ryan Casey Waller and that book was really eye-opening!

Waller talks about the importance of Christians acknowledging mental health. He is a pastor, and he also had his own struggles with depression and resorted to alcohol to heal himself, but learned that that wasn’t the right path to take. After he stepped away from alcohol, he continued his mission as a pastor by writing this book.

Now, what does the Bible say about mental health? Well, it doesn’t directly address it, but you can read about people who struggled with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts or actions.

So here a a couple stories in the Bible that reference anxiety, depression, and suicide. On Monday I’ll have a post about how Jesus addresses and took care of his own mental health as a human.

Depression: If you’ve read all of Psalms, you know that it’s a crazy rollercoaster of emotions. But do you know that there are signs of depression there too? (Read Psalm 42:5, Psalm 119:28, Psalm 38:6, Psalm 42:9, Psalm 116:3) These verses are just a few in just the book of Psalms. You can find more about depression here.

Suicidal Thoughts: In the book 1 Kings chapter 19, Elijah is hunted down by a queen, who is trying to kill him as the other prophets were killed. Elijah runs to the wilderness, alone, with nothing, and verse four says, “[Elijah] came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”” (1 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

But God spoke to him, saying that he still needed Elijah for his good plans. What does Elijah do later on? He found the king (the husband of the queen who had tried to kill him,) and told the man of his sins. And the man repented before God.

Anxiety: This one is something everyone struggles with at some point. Jesus addresses it in Matthew, and he says in chapter 6 verses 25 through 34, (paraphrased) “Don’t worry about anything. Look, God takes care of the sparrows and you are worth so much more to Him than birds. Leave your worry for tomorrow, today, be content and seek your Father.” (More verses on anxiety here.)

Well, that’s all I got for today! Thanks for reading! I’ll have another post, relating to this topic, on Monday.

~Willow 🤍