How’s this for offensive? “Jesus Is My Prozac”
I was test driving my husband’s new truck when I saw that absurd statement on a sign in front of a church in Fredericksburg, VA, and I nearly ran off the road I was so aghast that anyone could possibly be so ignorant as to suggest that depression can be cured by a healthy dose of religion.
Depression is a medical illness, not a figment of your imagination, and being “a good enough Christian” is not the cure. Are you suggesting that I suffer from depression because I’m a big fat sinner? Perhaps because I don’t believe in Jaaaaayyyyyyzus sufficiently for miraculous intervention in my brain chemistry? Gee, that makes me feel SO much better. Give me a break.
Of COURSE if you’re feeling lonely and disconnected, finding a home in a supportive community with shared values and goals, religious or otherwise, can help you feel more grounded. If you feel like you lack direction, identifying yourself as a child of God or a member of whatever church or however you choose to see it can certainly give you a sense of purpose or meaning. Belief in a higher power can also provide encouragement and reassurance. But that is NOT the same thing as curing depression. It’s not. It’s not, and I resent the implication that it is. You know, as if that weren’t clear.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health,
An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people.
Of the 57.7 million Americans suffering from a mental disorder, nearly 15 million suffer from depression according to 1999 NIMH statistics. No doubt the number has increased since then. And when I say depression, I’m not talking about feeling bummed. I’m talking about clinical depression, persistent and pervasive feelings of sadness, anxiety, emptiness, hopelessness, and guilt coupled with a lack of interest or pleasure in things you previous enjoyed, possible sleep disruption, possible panic disorder, possible loss of appetite, and all of the numerous other manifestations of depression. I’m talking about a disease.
Would you tell someone who’s allergic to bee stings and is going into anaphylactic shock that Jesus is her EpiPen? Or suggest to a diabetic whose blood glucose level is through the roof that Jesus is her insulin? Saying, “Jesus is my Prozac” is just as inappropriate, just as disrespectful, just as STUPID, and possibly even more damaging — because there’s nothing like telling a depressed person that their depression is their own fault because they lack faith to make them feel better at the end of the day.
Way to be supportive, Christendom. Good job.
You can learn more about causes, symptoms, and treatment of depression through the 25-page PDF Depression, published by NIMH or by reading NIMH’s brief depression fact sheet.
Contents Copyright © 2008 Kristen King
NB: This post originally appeared on the blog SassPants.com.
I saw this last week and wrote about it. I was so offended! I wanted to put up another sign in front of it: Zoloft Saves!
V-Grrrl’s last blog post..Thanksgiving preparations
@V-Grrrl, Was it the one on Lafayette Ave? That’s the one I saw. I was SO MAD. Do you have a link for to your take on it? Don’t be shy — you’re welcome to post it.
BTW, I’m on Zoloft, too. We just have so much in common! ;)
V-Grrrl, great t-shirt slogan – what idjits.
Anne Wayman, now blogging at http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com
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Jesus saves. Moses invests.
Give ’em hell, darlin. I’m with you on this one. That’s just stupidity in action. It’s like when we were at a banquet held by the adoption agency where my brother/sister-in-law adopted their two kids. Beautiful banquet, lovely night, until the preacher had us bow our heads and then “pray for the birth mothers who committed such evil sins and committed adultery.” Ah, thanks for making EVERY CHILD IN THAT ROOM feel like a great choice, you flaming d*ck!
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@Anne, that WOULD be a great tee shirt! Good call.
@Lori, LOL never heard that one before! I cannot BELIEVE that prayer. What an inappropriate forum for those thoughts! Although you know I’m not a big fan of biting your tongue when you have somehting to day, I AM a big fan of TACT (which I’m still working on mastering). How about offering a prayer of gratitude that although the birth mothers may have made some bad choices, their hearts were kind enough to make sure their children could have a life they could never give them and made the loving choice to put them up for adoption, and look how wonderfully that turned out. That’s much better than “you brats are the product of SINNNNNNNN.”
It was an interesting prayer. My hubby said the same thing floored him, so I knew it wasn’t overreaction. The better prayer would have been to THANK the birth mothers for making such a selfless choice in a time of personal crisis. Judgment should never enter into prayer, in my opinion. The putz. I could write him a nasty letter, but why feed the beast?
Lori’s last blog post..The Great Big Internet Popularity Contest
Kristen,
Didn’t write a post, tweeted about it.
As for it making a great t-shirt slogan, yeah, I could see that. Many years ago I had a custom t-shirt made for friends that said “Drugs saved my life”
Hey, sometimes you just gotta DARE TO SAY YES TO DRUGS!
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That’s a really stupid sign! I sometimes see tabloid headlines like “Angelina in therapy” or “Brit’s parents beg her to seek therapy,” and it makes me mad that they think a celeb in therapy is scandalous. Come on! That just feeds the stigma against therapy. Occasionally I run into someone who thinks being in therapy means you’re an emotional wreck, and I wonder what rock these people have been living under all this time that thye stil think that way!
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@V-Grrrl, sometimes a tweet is just the right length to say what you have to say. :)
@Susan, THANK you! Way to support the stigma! Exactly. I’m glad people are starting to get, though, that psychological diagnosis does not equal CRAAAAAZY.
I am a christain and I have depression
you should here some of the things christians will tell you
they dont understand as much as the rest of the world does not understand depression
ITS AN ILLNESS, ITS NOT SIN, ITS NOT WEAKNESS IT IS A CHEMICAL IMBALANCE
I tend to agree with you that it can’t be “Cured” but religion. I was diagnosed with clinical depression when I was in 8th grade. I have been on Lexapro since then, BUT… I am also VERY religious. Maybe Jesus and religion just give people the hope they may need. Correct? I mean, I’m not arguing with you, but maybe it’s not the chemical imbalance that Jesus helps fix, maybe it’s something else. =]
Thanks =]