HAVE YOU ever felt so bad that you no longer wanted to live? Then you may understand how Adriana felt. She suffered from acute anxiety and felt sad and hopeless. Adriana was diagnosed with clinical depression.
Consider, too, a Japanese man named Kaoru, who cared for his sickly, aged parents. “At the time, I was overwhelmed by extreme pressure at work,” he explains. “In time I lost my appetite, and my sleep was terribly disturbed. I came to think how relieved I would be if I could just die.”
A Nigerian man named Ojebode says, “I was always sad to the point of shedding tears, so I looked for a means to end my life.” Thankfully, Ojebode, Kaoru, and Adriana did not take their lives. But every year hundreds of thousands do.
WHERE TO FIND HELP
Most people who commit suicide are men, many of whom felt too ashamed to ask for help. Jesus said that sick people need a physician. (Luke 5:31) So if you have such feelings, please do not be ashamed to seek help. Many people who suffer from depression have found that medical treatment can help them to cope. Ojebode, Kaoru, and Adriana all received professional help and now cope much better.
Doctors may use medication or talk therapy or both to treat depression. Those who suffer also need the empathetic support of patient, caring family and friends. The best friend anyone can have is Jehovah God, who provides wonderful help in his Word, the Bible.
IS THERE A PERMANENT SOLUTION?
Victims of depression often need prolonged treatment and have to learn how to cope by making adjustments to their lifestyle. But if you struggle with depression, you can look forward to a bright future, as does Ojebode. He says, “I look forward to seeing the fulfillment of Isaiah 33:24, which foretells the time when no one on earth will say ‘I am sick.’” Like Ojebode, take comfort in God’s promise of “a new earth,” where “pain” will be no more. (Revelation 21:1, 4) That promise includes an end to all mental and emotional pain. Your painful feelings will be gone forever. Never again will your painful feelings “be called to mind, nor will they come up into [your] heart.”—Isaiah 65:17.
