When Depression is More Than a Spiritual Problem

My husband was in seminary while working full time. I had small children, worked part time from home, and was facing some difficult life circumstances. During such a busy and trying season, I wasn’t initially surprised when I felt a touch of low spirits. I had heard from other mothers that the lack of sleep and the minute-by-minute demands of young children can often result in periods of spiritual dryness. I supposed I was facing it myself and tried to lean into my spiritual disciplines with the idea that spiritual support would help solve it.

Instead, my occasional low spirits bloomed into full-blown depression. I tried praying more often. That did not work. Life was busy enough that I did not have time to fully engage my feelings, but as I went about my busy daily schedule, I was aware of a feeling of wrongness, sadness, and even real despondency followed me.

It only seemed to get worse. No matter how much I prayed, put my faith or hope in God, or even ate well and got a good nap when I could, the darkness seemed to spread in my mind and heart.

Finally, after long months of this, a doctor discovered that I had extremely low iron stores. I had low absorption from food and supplements, so ended up having a series of IVs with iron to help bring my levels up. I still remember the day when I walked out of the doctor’s office simply humming with energy and goodwill after the last of my IVs. I was happy again.

The dark fog that had seemed so threatening before had lifted and allowed me to see the sunlight again. It was humbling to realize that I had been trying to pray my way out of an iron insufficiency, thinking it was strictly a spiritual matter. In a review of medical research, iron deficiency anemia was linked to a variety of concerns, including “low mood.” They noted that sometimes doctors misdiagnose people with anemia with depression, and patients suffering from iron deficiency are at more risk of developing psychiatric disorders.

My body was giving me distress signals that something was wrong, but I misinterpreted them as spiritual instead of physical. I had so easily assumed that my problem was spiritual because I had been taught in church contexts to view any feelings of depression as solely spiritual problems. My experience taught me to better understand and appreciate that we aren’t just souls, but we have God-given bodies that need care. While we can go through dry spiritual times, sometimes feeling low or depressed isn’t a red flag about your spiritual life, but a signal that your body needs attention.

This does not mean that we don’t need spiritual care. In the years after discovering my low iron, we were to find out that I had some complex health concerns that likely contributed to my absorption issues. Anyone who has suffered from chronic illnesses understands the need for spiritual support while suffering. 2 Corinthians 4:16 has often been a comfort, reminding me not to “lose heart” when it seems like my “outer self is wasting away” because my “inner self is being renewed day by day.”

What is also true is that I learned to see God’s goodness in medical help and advances. He was the one who made our bodies with their many needs, including my need of iron. When medical care has been able to alleviate some of my suffering, including the suffering of depression caused by low iron, I have seen it as ultimately a gift from God.

I once was in a conversation with a woman at a Bible study who suffered greatly every year from Seasonal Depression Disorder. She knew it was physical in nature, but when she was offered possible solutions for it, she pushed them aside. Depression, she told us, needed only spiritual care. She had absorbed messages about depression always having a spiritual origin so completely, that even when it was clear to her doctors, herself, and those around her, that there was a physical reason for it, she stubbornly insisted on only praying her way through it. I don’t know whether the solutions offered to her would have helped. But if they had, not only would she have experienced less suffering, but she would have also been more available to her loved ones. I was saddened she felt it was more spiritual to suffer than to accept help.

The apostle John, while addressing “beloved Gaius” in 3 John, greets him like this: “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” It is not wrong to pray that we may enjoy good health along with the well-being of our souls.

My husband has now been pastoring for some years, and my experience has shaped us as we serve in the church. Staying mindful of the fact that people have minds, bodies, and souls, when women approach me saying they feel overwhelmed, sad, depressed, or anxious, I do not just offer them spiritual advice. I also talk about how I needed medical care when I felt similarly, and encourage them to work with a well-reputed doctor as needed. I ask if they are taking care of themselves, if they have help at home, or whether work is especially stressful. We talk about the benefits of seeing someone for counsel.

Sometimes all I have to offer is prayer, but I better know how to pray for them now. I know not to reduce the human experience, including feelings of depression, to one simple cause. Instead, I seek to see them as people, like me, who have God-given physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. The Lord knows what is happening in the intricacies of our bodies, souls, emotions, and so I pray that he, as the great healer, guides us as we seek answers and help.

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