Depression and suicide

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Angela53510

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
11,780
2,943
113
#41
My goodness, so much judgment for one short thread!

And the same straw men that have been burnt to the ground in so many posts.

If a person is a murderer, an adulterer, or mass murderer, my guess is that they are not saved. But that is for God to ultimately judge, not me!

God saves us, we are his, he keeps us till the end. ---> being saved by God leads to the desire to obey his Word, and serve him.

Anything else is a works based gospel and degrades the sovereignty of our gracious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We do not work our way into the Kingdom of God by acts of will, and working for our salvation. Arminianism is a lie from the pit of hell.

And as for this 80's nonsense, I was just posting elsewhere how it was all scare tactics in those days, and very little substance. A lot of people who did not know the Bible, were making statements about how we were to live in fear of the devil, and if we didn't obey God, we were going to send ourselves and our families to hell.

I'm so glad those days are over! Just not certain why anyone would want to dredge up those days. Talk about being stuck in a time warp!
 
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ChristIsGod

Guest
#42
I thought this thread had sunk by now.

Human, you certainly are human. I don't think I've ever seen anyone misinterpret or rephrase my words in such an extreme way as you have here.

So you're saying first, that human compassion is just as good as GOD's? The Corinthian Church had the same mentality toward sin.
Yes, suicide is a sin whether you want to continue on with your secularized ideology or not - suicide is still a sin.

And talk about splitting hairs. What on earth are you talking about against talk therapy that I said that Psychiatrists are NOT doing anymore, for the most part, but just handing out meds instead that don't help the way in which the person thinks about their life at all - they just temporarily numb them for a while but the side effects and the chance that one day they may not be able to get them anymore is always a possibility. Where on earth are you getting what you've posted? Talk therapy includes "Counseling" yet you're saying that I'm ruling out one in favor of the other -- where are you getting that nonsense?

"Trivializing the genuine struggles of suicidal people by inferring they aren't even 'real struggles' ........ "

What? I gave testimony that I came one second close to it myself years ago and understand how powerful it can be.

The rest of what you've written is so unbelievably incorrect an interpretation of what I wrote that going sentence by sentence would take me an hour to rebut but I haven't that much time for you.

You're trying to sound intellectual and so knowledgable on these topics or what you 'think' I wrote in that one post - but all you're doing is laying the foundation for another person to think that suicide is fine and we're to just - Do what to help them? Make them feel that they're doomed to always be suicidal and that you have all of the answers for them and Not God?

This 'is' a Pro-death generation and that is "verifiable" or maybe because you're only 24 you haven't noticed or read about the ideology of the founder of Planned Parenthood or read anything about the Hemlock Society or know any pro-life sites that talk against euthanasia of the disabled and elderly etc, etc.. How much have you researched the suicide the messages in Rock songs in the last 30 yrs? Or crime rates in the last 30-60 yrs alone?

If I see someone standing on the roof ready to jump - you betcha I may just hurt them trying to save them and so would GOD. Again, human compassion was seen in Corinth and Paul told them that they were "Puffed Up" for allowing sin thinking they were so full of that grace but it was your type of worldly-grace that counsels people right to Hell.

You can "disagree" as "intensely" as you arrogantly choose, young friend, but not only have you mis-characterized the heart of my post but reframed almost all that I wrote - but worst of all, you contradicted His Word and falsely pumped up your own pathos here and the pathos of an unsaved world and it's 'remedies' and all I can say is that you haven't seen the rest of what this world thinks about life and death - but you will - and you'll find out that it's the furthest thing from "life is precious" in their systems of false sciences based on secularized bio-ethics and that they sound a lot like you right now.
You have lied in your post by re-wording my post and I am as serious as Life that if you do it again on THIS Topic I will take as many hours as needed, that I don't have right now to deal with it, one sentence at a time.
If we can save just one life on here - it's going to happen. You are a false accuser and haven't done one thing to save one life here, nor in your own short life. And you need to know that God is not impressed with what you have written compared to what He has written regarding His Love, His Mercy, His Compassion, or the Life that He has created and has had plans for, since before the foundations of the earth.

If this were any other topic - I let false accusers go - but not this topic, human.
 

blondensmart

Room Moderator
Staff member
Jan 19, 2014
108
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28
#43
ChristIsGod

I 100% agree that talk therapy is highly effective, and I am an advocate of it and for it. However, I find it very disturbing that it appears to be an all or none situation for you. Meaning either talk therapy or anti-depressants, and you don't seem to find room for using talk therapy and anti-depressants simultaneously. If I am wrong in my understanding, please correct me. That is what I felt you were saying.

I'm not saying that is the answer for all. We are as varied as the flowers in the field. However, for some, taking medication is extremely important. Do you agree?
 
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ChristIsGod

Guest
#44
Mo0448 - you posted
- Judas killing himself when the recognition of his sin against Jesus was too much to bear. He does "repent" when he goes back and returns the money that was given to him when he recognized that he had wronged the Lord. Also, his Death was prophesied in the Old Testament. So does that mean that he Lived and Died by Killing himself and condemning himself to hell just so a prophecy could come to pass? Or was it more of a "I really screwed up, Jesus didn't deserve that, I can't live with the pain of having sold out the Messiah the Lord". Yet didn't Jesus say he would be resurrected on the third day...so did Judas not believe Jesus so did he not have faith?


Judas was called "the son of perdition and he did not repent and yes, he went to Hell.
John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

John 13:27 And after the sop 'Satan entered into him'. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

Paul talks about two types of feeling sorry for what we've done here -
2Cor 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Judas did not have "godly sorrow". He spent approx 3 yrs with Jesus and never was a good guy - as it says he kept the bag for Jesus and His men and took money from that expense money and that he didn't care about the poor.

There are only two men in the Bible that are called "the son of perdition" and one is Judas and the other is antiChrist.

So does that mean that he Lived and Died by Killing himself and condemning himself to hell just so a prophecy could come to pass?


You're not serious with this question, are you? I uncapitalized the 'h' in reference to Judas in this sentence above.

"Prophecy" is God "foretelling what He knows by His omniscient foreknowledge" of what each human being will do from beginning to end. That includes what Esau did, et al, though he gave him [and all] every chance to do what's right - just as He does for all.

1. Do you believe that someone who is mentally unstable (or has a form of mental retardation) that does not allow them to rationalize thoughts in a coherent manner commits suicide, do you think they go to hell?


You don't mention whether you're asking about saved people or not - but all mankind are given a conscience and that would mean that "you shall not kill" is somewhere in the soul of a human. How can we believe that He only meant - killing others is wrong but killing oneself is not wrong?

Can anyone find anywhere in the Bible where "mental illness" is found? Or does the Bible just deal with the "thoughts" of man?

I knew a girl, a Pastor's daughter, that was so mentally retarded that at age 12, she couldn't speak, had to be accompanied to the ladies room, and was determined to be barely 2 yrs old mentally/cognitively, but she knew God and would go up to the altar after service and look up at the cross and smile, shake her hands with joy as if she was having a communication with Him -- and the same with a woman in the Nursing Home where I worked -- but she couldn't walk at all and was approx at the 5 month old stage of Alzheimer's - so it depends on the 'spiritual' state of a person, because the 'spirit' of a person is not retarded, but quite alive in a truly saved person, regardless of any physical damage to the brain.

2. If someone who just mass murdered several people, and then kill themselves, where does that leave them?
Hell.

3. If, God is the giver of life (as many mentioned) and we decide to become "gods" by taking control and ending our own lives is that not any different than the sin of pride?
Pride is "the root" of All sin. Suicide as well.
Eph 5:29 "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh". I know that's a tough one to believe but it's true. Sort of blows the 'low self-esteem' bit to bits.
1John 2:16,17 "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
The low self-esteem is "self-consciousness" -- it all revolves around "self" being important to "self" rather than being like Christ - Who was "others minded always" and self-less. If we look in any Dictionary under "self" and words that begin with "self" - it's an eye opener.

If we know that Jesus is "The Word of God" and yet say that "The Word of God" is not enough to get our thoughts straightened out, then we're saying that though He is as good as His Words - He's not enough nor His Words that make Him Who He is.

Recovery may take some time of 'renewing one's mind' and being 'cleansed by the washing of the Word' and 'taking every thought captive to the obedience 'of' Christ' .... but a true Biblical counselor or one just making the time to sit at His feet can find where their thoughts are gone wrong and replace their own thoughts with His, from His Word. Whether they do it by Journaling the verses that help them or just reading faithfully with the hope of having the sound mind or self-discipline that He promised us.

When we get sad, we have a 'choice' of what to do with our initial 'sad' thoughts. If we're Christians - we can read The Word of God and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, who was self-less and others-minded-always.
We can read His Word, such as the Psalms - or other comforting thoughts that address what we're sad about and find comfort, or God is a liar and His promises are meant only for others and not for all that are alive right now.

Satan rose up in pride and wanted to rise above God and so did Eve want to be 'as God'. The real original sin. Wanting to be the God of our own lives [autonomy - wiser than God] is pride and every sin is birthed from that pride.
Suicide is saying to God that He doesn't know what the heck He's doing, allowing us to suffer so much, that we need to take control of things and end it ... when He said that we are saved by "continuously faithing" or saved by "faith". Is it just faith in the cross or faith in God being God as well?

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is 'impossible' [adunatos] to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

Who's the "them" in Rom 1:18-32?

Suicide is the only sin that if accomplished quickly enough cannot be repented of and if one intentionally takes the slower route so that they can say they're sorry enough times, it's not different then what Judas did with his own life - from the time he returned the money - then to go get the rope and tying it and putting the noose on.
The reasons for the suicide may differ from his, but the act of suicide is still based upon a worldly self-centered sorrow and nothing Biblical.

No saved person wants to say that the Bible isn't True ... but the enemy of our souls would love to convince us it is by focusing our eyes on ourselves instead of others.
Someone said that we need to be compassionate for the sake of those who had someone they love commit suicide. I have compassion on the loved ones that have had someone do that to themselves because that's one of the greatest pains that a friend or family member could ever feel --- but that's the 2nd reason Why we need to stop it from happening to those that are still living --- whatever it takes.

None of what I've written here or elsewhere is a "works based gospel" and I'm truly tiring of hearing that accusation being thrown around, most especially on this thread, as this is a true life or death issue, where more than just one person gets hurt. It's all just Sola Scriptura. And that "works based gospel" topic should and can be dealt with by Sola Scriptura as well.



Stay Strong all!
 
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ChristIsGod

Guest
#45
ChristIsGod

I 100% agree that talk therapy is highly effective, and I am an advocate of it and for it. However, I find it very disturbing that it appears to be an all or none situation for you. Meaning either talk therapy or anti-depressants, and you don't seem to find room for using talk therapy and anti-depressants simultaneously. If I am wrong in my understanding, please correct me. That is what I felt you were saying.

I'm not saying that is the answer for all. We are as varied as the flowers in the field. However, for some, taking medication is extremely important. Do you agree?
Anti-depressants should only be used in worse case scenarios and temporary. I mentioned in that long post that there is research from the opposing view point, that showed that 'the thoughts come first and that is what changes the brain chemistry'. Biblical talk therapy would be best for anyone - or Biblical Counseling. There are some wonderful Licensed Biblical Therapists and Counselors out there, but far too many have gone secular.
The drugs don't change the way a person 'thinks' - and as you see in my last post - only God's Word can get our thinking where it should be and off of self -- but just treating the brain chemistry or thinking one is is not a "cure". More times than not, these anti-depressants are being given out to far more patients than just depressed people as well. The market is incredible and it's mind boggling to even think of what they did in Bible times without them. It seems like everyone you meet is on them - though it's not 'everyone' - it sure is a lot of people. Is it wrong to get 'sad' anymore? The Word of God is full of 'sad' and even despondent people, but it shows the way that they came out of it.

There's the side effects, there's the strong possibility that the person's problem wasn't actually chemical to begin with or is, there's the problem of these drugs inhibiting our natural inhibitors so the person will have to stay on for a lifetime --- then there's the other side effects, like "suicidal thoughts" or "personality change" and a host of others that one really needs to research to weigh it in the balance, Sis.
What if a time comes that they're not available? What if we really don't need them anymore, presently, but keep on with them anyway? Have people read about with-drawling from them? Very many factors.
You see, I believe that God didn't leave one stone unturned in His Word, so every emotion in the book is in that Book.

Here's just a few links for now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh0iOd3KEAY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bguQkX1M1Pg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOW8LNU2hFE

All of these links were given from a group of psychiatrists and other doctors that are joined together, trying to warn the government and users of the dangers of this fairly newer way of treating [more than just] depression with these anti-depressants and the long term effects.

The Myth of Biological Depression


There are other drugs that should be used for those like our soldiers that have PTSD - severe anxiety - panic and antidepressants are not the drugs for these problems and that hurts as well, as the only danger stories we've heard from these soldiers are those that were on anti-depressants and not anti-anxiety drugs. Though, prayerfully, even the anti-anxiety drugs can be temporary as well, unless there's actual damage to the nervous system, which can happen with other diseases besides just psychological reasons.
 
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Eva1218

Guest
#46
JESUS gave HIS Life for All sin, even suicide the only sin not forgiven is blasphemy. What one must do is confess and believe and they are Saved. Now the only person I know in the Bible who has done this was judas iscariot who betrayed JESUS. As he hung himself, prior to JESUS death therefore he is held to his sin. son of perdition.
 
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Eva1218

Guest
#47
The only one close to mental illness that I can think on at this time would be Saul for he was tormented in his mind and David would come and play music for him to soothe him.
 
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ChristIsGod

Guest
#48
Eva, here is another problem in how we teach/preach the Biblical Gospel for Salvation .... "What one must do is confess and believe and they are Saved."

Is it just believe that Jesus died for the sins of the world - therefore, if I believe that He died for me then, that makes me saved?

I don't believe that there's anyone on this forum that doesn't know that "Many" believe they are saved or Bible believing Christians, but they aren't. The word 'many' is used a number of times in the N.T..

Based upon that alone - wouldn't we be wiser to not preach that suicide is a way of escape?

If a murderer of another is killed in the process, do you believe they are saved? That regardless of whether a person can ask forgiveness or not - that whatever sin they are in the middle of when they die - that they're automatically forgiven - with the only exception being, the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit and what is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?


Can't you see that suicide is playing Russian Roulette with one's soul? -- and for more than one reason.


 
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ChristIsGod

Guest
#49
The only one close to mental illness that I can think on at this time would be Saul for he was tormented in his mind and David would come and play music for him to soothe him.
Yes, and David faked it once to save his own life ... which was sort of funny. But you have brought up an answer that we really should personally think about and investigate. There was also ... Dan 4:33 "The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws."

In this day, he'd have been hauled off to the PsychWard.

I just feel to post more on this topic of depression and what the other Professionals are saying against this more modern trend of 'treatment' ... including ECT/shock treatments.

I had a friend that bought the whole package many years ago, and Just because she was having trouble getting enough sleep.
They put her on antidepressants instead of just a sleep-aid and gave her ECT and she later developed Parkinsons because of it. She couldn't move any part of her body, nor speak nor eat - yet her brain was still functioning but she was locked in her body that she couldn't use nor communicate with and spent decades in a Nursing Home, though she wasn't a Senior Citizen when first admitted. She was one of the earlier guinea pigs when antidepressants were just starting to come out for treating depression ... though there's also ample evidence of why to avoid ECT.

When it comes to our minds - we only get one - and if there's even a chance that it can be impaired permanently by either a drug or another treatment - shouldn't we do as much research from both sides of the Medical Community's Research?

There's so much more than just this one link available. God knows we need our brain and need to stay in our right-mind Biblically - God help us to see that there may be an agenda and more than just 'for profit' in this industry and world-view.
That Secular Humanists have what they call "compassion" as well - but the majority of those have a 'global de-population and evolutionary ideology' that sees us as nothing more than taking up space and the earth's resources and that we need to drastically reduce the population -- while others that are also in major decision making positions on this planet, would love to 'dumb down and make dependent' whatever humans are not "purged from the earth" [their words] and for reasons that aren't pleasant at all. They can't help themselves being evolutionists and feeling that the earth can't sustain us all and that people are much more controllable when their brains are tweeked by whatever methods available - even internet, media, etc..

Pray for all humans, everywhere, that they find Him before they die and that we will be witnesses to what He can do for the mind - He Who created all and knows how to repair all, individually. He is the only One that knows what makes each of us tick, individually and how to fix whatever needs help. The Only One.


Law Project for Psychiatric Rights



Pray sincerely that He show us the Word of God in it's fullness and until He returns.
 

Angela53510

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
11,780
2,943
113
#50
Very poor sources, but it does explain why some people are not helped by antidepressants. Of course, we won't get into all the people that are helped by them, including my husband, and for me in winter, when I get Seasonal Affective Disorder from the lack of light and the cold in this northern city where I live.

For the one paper you cited I can find many articles which challenge your opinions. (Not theories, since we are talking evidence, double blind studies, not an idea that someone has and presents it as facts.)


All About Depression: Causes

"Biological causes of clinical depression continue to be studied extensively. Great progress has been made in the understanding of brain function, the influence of neurotransmitters and hormones, and other biological processes, as well as how they may relate to the development of depression."

"
Neurotransmitters and Neurons
To understand what happens in the brain when a person becomes clinically depressed as well as how antidepressant medications work, it is first important to learn a bit about the function of neurons and neurotransmitters. Within the brain, there are special chemicals called neurotransmitters that carry out many very important functions. Essentially, they help transfer messages throughout structures of the brain's nerve cells. These nerve cells, called neurons, are organized to control specialized activities. We each have somewhere between 10-100 billion neurons within our brains. Whenever we do anything, react, feel emotions, think, our neurons transmit messages in the form of electrical impulses from one cell to another. These electrical impulses travel across the neurons at an amazing rate of speed- less than 1/5,000 of a second. Because they move so quickly, our brains can react instantaneously to stimuli such as pain.

A neuron is made up of a cell body, an axon, and numerous branching dendrites. Chemical messages pass through the brain by traveling through these neuronal structures. First, it begins as an electrical impulse that is picked up by one of the dendrites of the neuron. Next, the impulse moves through the cell body then travels down the axon. When it reaches the axon the electrical impulse is changed to a chemical impulse. These chemical impulses, or neurotransmitters, released by the axon have the duty of carrying messages from one neuron to another. When the message is picked up by the dendrite of a neighboring neuron, it is changed back in to an electrical impulse and process begins again. Neurons do not actually touch one another. Instead, the chemical messenger passes from one neuron to another through a small narrow gap, called a synapse, which separates the neurons.
Neurotransmitters travel from neuron to neuron in an orderly fashion. They are specifically shaped so that after they pass from a neuron into the synapse, they can be received onto certain sites, called receptors, on a neighboring neuron. Neurotransmitters can fit a number of different receptors, but receptor sites can only receive specific types of neurotransmitters. Upon landing at the receptor site of neuron, the chemical message of the neurotransmitter may either be changed into an electrical impulse and continue on its way through the next neuron, or it may stop where it is. In either case the neurotransmitter releases from the receptor site and floats back into the synapse. It is then removed from the synapse in one of two ways. The neurotransmitter may be broken down by a chemical called monoamine oxidase, or it may be taken back in by the neuron that originally released it. The latter case is called reuptake.
Of the 30 or so neurotransmitters that have been identified, researchers have discovered associations between clinical depression and the function of three primary ones: serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. These three neurotransmitters function within structures of the brain that regulate emotions, reactions to stress, and the physical drives of sleep, appetite, and sexuality. Structures that have received a great deal of attention from depression researchers include the limbic system and hypothalamus.
Theories about how neurotransmitters may be related to a person's mood have been based upon the effects that antidepressant medications can have on relieving depression in some people. It is believed that these medications are effective because they regulate the amount of specific neurotransmitters in the brain. However, the role that neurotransmitters play in the development or treatment of clinical depression is not completely clear. For instance, it has been shown that many people who are depressed have low levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. The use of some antidepressants can increase the level of norepinephrine in the brain, and subsequently relieve depressive symptoms. One the other hand, it has also been shown that some other people who are depressed have high levels of norepinephrine. This same scenario may be true for other neurotransmitters. Another reason that the effects of neurotransmitters are not clear-cut has to do with the fact that antidepressant medications do not work for everyone. If there were a direct causal link between the level of a neurotransmitter in the brain and depression, then we would expect a much higher rate of success with medication. Further, although antidepressant medications can change the level of a neurotransmitter in the brain immediately, it normally takes a few weeks for a person with depression to feel better. What is seems to boil down to is that there appears to be a strong relationship between neurotransmitter levels in the brain and clinical depression, and that antidepressant medications work for a great many people, but we are not absolutely certain of the actual relationship between neurotransmitters and depression."



What causes depression? - Harvard Health Publications

"What causes depression?

(This article was first printed in Understanding Depression, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.)
It’s often said that depression results from a chemical imbalance, but that figure of speech doesn’t capture how complex the disease is. Research suggests that depression doesn’t spring from simply having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals. Rather, depression has many possible causes, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, stressful life events, medications, and medical problems. It’s believed that several of these forces interact to bring on depression.
To be sure, chemicals are involved in this process, but it is not a simple matter of one chemical being too low and another too high. Rather, many chemicals are involved, working both inside and outside nerve cells. There are millions, even billions, of chemical reactions that make up the dynamic system that is responsible for your mood, perceptions, and how you experience life.
With this level of complexity, you can see how two people might have similar symptoms of depression, but the problem on the inside, and therefore what treatments will work best, may be entirely different.
Researchers have learned much about the biology of depression. They’ve identified genes that make individuals more vulnerable to low moods and influence how an individual responds to drug therapy. One day, these discoveries should lead to better, more individualized treatment (see “From the lab to your medicine cabinet”), but that is likely to be years away. And while researchers know more now than ever before about how the brain regulates mood, their understanding of the biology of depression is far from complete.
What follows is an overview of the current understanding of the major factors believed to play a role in depression.
The brain

Popular lore has it that emotions reside in the heart. Science, though, tracks the seat of your emotions to the brain. Certain areas of the brain help regulate mood. Researchers believe that — more important than levels of specific brain chemicals — nerve cell connections, nerve cell growth, and the functioning of nerve circuits have a major impact on depression. Still, their understanding of the neurological underpinnings of mood is incomplete.
Regions that affect mood

Increasingly sophisticated forms of brain imaging — such as positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) — permit a much closer look at the working brain than was possible in the past. An fMRI scan, for example, can track changes that take place when a region of the brain responds during various tasks. A PET or SPECT scan can map the brain by measuring the distribution and density of neurotransmitter receptors in certain areas.
Use of this technology has led to a better understanding of which brain regions regulate mood and how other functions, such as memory, may be affected by depression. Areas that play a significant role in depression are the amygdala, the thalamus, and the hippocampus (see Figure 1).
Research shows that the hippocampus is smaller in some depressed people. For example, in one fMRI study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, investigators studied 24 women who had a history of depression. On average, the hippocampus was 9% to 13% smaller in depressed women compared with those who were not depressed. The more bouts of depression a woman had, the smaller the hippocampus. Stress, which plays a role in depression, may be a key factor here, since experts believe stress can suppress the production of new neurons (nerve cells) in the hippocampus.
Researchers are exploring possible links between sluggish production of new neurons in the hippocampus and low moods. An interesting fact about antidepressants supports this theory. These medications immediately boost the concentration of chemical messengers in the brain (neurotransmitters). Yet people typically don’t begin to feel better for several weeks or longer. Experts have long wondered why, if depression were primarily the result of low levels of neurotransmitters, people don’t feel better as soon as levels of neurotransmitters increase.
The answer may be that mood only improves as nerves grow and form new connections, a process that takes weeks. In fact, animal studies have shown that antidepressants do spur the growth and enhanced branching of nerve cells in the hippocampus. So, the theory holds, the real value of these medications may be in generating new neurons (a process called neurogenesis), strengthening nerve cell connections, and improving the exchange of information between nerve circuits. If that’s the case, medications could be developed that specifically promote neurogenesis, with the hope that patients would see quicker results than with current treatments.
In the meantime, animal research lends credence to the theory. A 2003 study in Science found that when neurogenesis is blocked in mice, the benefits of antidepressants seem to disappear. After receiving antidepressants for four weeks, mice exhibited less anxious or depressed behavior (they became bolder about retrieving food from a brightly lit place). These treated mice had 60% more dividing cells in the hippocampus. However, when researchers impeded new cell growth by dousing the hippocampus with x-rays, drug treatment failed to reduce anxious behavior in the mice. While more work needs to be done to determine the role of neurogenesis in depression, this is an interesting avenue of research."
 
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ChristIsGod

Guest
#52
There appears to be a bias in your posts on this topic, Sis. I'm not saying that in anger nor holier than thou, at all -- but there is that bias that comes from personal use first and then the sources that you give work together as we see that Big Medicine - Big Pharma and Big Government do indeed work together now in the U.S. more than ever before in our history as a nation -- and Canada as well was and is ahead of us in that dept.

I love and respect you sincerely Angela and have since I first signed on here - but we'll have to agree to disagree and yet know that I have no problem with still repecting and loving you as much as I did when I first read your posts when I joined here. There's no difference whatsoever in how I feel about you .... these posts of yours on this page cannot change that.
I love you.
 
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ChristIsGod

Guest
#53
There appears to be a bias in your posts on this topic, Sis. I'm not saying that in anger nor holier than thou, at all -- but there is that bias that comes from personal use first and then the sources that you give work together as we see that Big Medicine - Big Pharma and Big Government do indeed work together now in the U.S. more than ever before in our history as a nation -- and Canada as well was and is ahead of us in that dept.

I love and respect you sincerely Angela and have since I first signed on here - but we'll have to agree to disagree and yet know that I have no problem with still repecting and loving you as much as I did when I first read your posts when I joined here. There's no difference whatsoever in how I feel about you .... these posts of yours on this page cannot change that.
I love you.
I will thank you though, for being the someone that has successfully unplugged my tear ducts - Thank you sincerely - much needed!

I had to go off of here for that reason but got tapped on the shoulder for - rename Big Medicine as Big Health Care and add that it's not just a trinity -- as most Drs here will tell you that the Insurance Companies are also hand-in-glove with those other three.

And that what we call "Obama Care" is a misnomer. What we have now is what was called 'Hillary Care' back in the 90's that they couldn't get through at that time but are now using this man to do the work as they work behind the scenes.
Documentable.

Shalom, to His Family,
from my heart.
 
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G4JC

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2011
668
6
0
#54
Suicide = Self Murder. There are no murderers in heaven.

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

- Revelation of John 22:14-15



For a more interesting testimony on this subject, I found this born again police officer to have it spot on as well:
Contemplating Suicide?
 

RickyZ

Senior Member
Sep 20, 2012
9,635
787
113
#55
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

- Revelation of John 22:14-15
All those who have lied at some point during their lives raise your hand. Now look around, G4JC, and look at all those people you just excluded.

There are two things at work here. One is a list of all the things that exclude you. Another is the one solitary act that makes all those things moot. (Perhaps moot is the wrong word but you get my point). So if murder is not forgiven under Christ, neither is lying. Wow, heaven is going to be a truly empty place under your works based salvation plan. I think I'll stick with God's plan instead.
 
C

ChristIsGod

Guest
#56
Some people are just more interested in being right than saving a life from suicide - and I couldn't be anymore convinced of that than I am now.


G4JC - Thank you for posting Brother Ralph's site. He's been helping people for a very long time and I too found his site when I was still new to the internet.
A very kind man and an example of what a good LEO is for all who would need that example or proof.


Thanks!
 

Fenner

Senior Member
Jan 26, 2013
7,507
111
0
#57
Nothing like self-righteousness and a lack of compassion and understanding of the diseases of depression, bipolar disorder, and other related illnesses.

Any kind of depression is marked by changes in the brain, because of the lack of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. That is physical evidence that mental illness is not just about attitude, or sin!

Once people have been depressed long term, it is physically impossible for the brain to recover. While medications, counseling and a good relationship with Jesus Christ can help, the person will need medication for the rest of their lives.

I have been ministering to the mentally ill, on-line, in support groups and as a chaplain, and I know how debilitating depression can be. Sometimes things are triggered, but things like childhood abuse or trauma leave a lifetime imprint on the brain. These days, I can recognize when it is depression, or a lack of neurotransmitters triggering the depression in people.

For those who cannot or will not seek help, for fear of ridicule, or not understanding the disease, can literally come to the end of their ability to cope. That is when suicidal impulses and urges become logical, rather than the scourge they are.

I would suggest that people get to know some people with depression, and comfort and encourage them. But do NOT judge or condemn them. I went through 5 long years of terrible depression when the pain and suffering of Rheumatoid Arthritis destroyed my life. I was a strong Christian, but got no help from anyone, and even the doctors did not help. But God was faithful, and brought me back, used my suffering for his good purpose, and now I minister to others with this terrible disease, which leaves people broken, empty and far from God.

But many times I was on the brink of suicide, so I can understand how any kind of pain and suffering can bring you to that point in life!

Sadly, it seems like depression is on the increase in North Amercia. Our society has lost family and community support for people, which results in loneliness and alienation which is a plague!

Our answer as Christians is to present Christ, support these people, through love and caring. AND medical care for a brain based illness, often genetically predisposed and triggered by brutal or traumatic circumstances!

We need to be a part of the solution, not part of the problem, by perpetuating the myths of telling people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and they are judged and condemned already! Suicide is not murder! Suicide is the final answer to a brain tortured by depression and hopelessness. Even a Christian can go through this, and end up feeling more suidical, because of the total lack of understanding of the pain they are feeling.

Thank you! You posted what I was thinking, more eloquently than I would have.
 
C

ChristIsGod

Guest
#58
For those that want to be set free, by those many Doctors of Psychiatry and other mental health Practitioners that have done their research for many decades, as just one group of the many -
Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, Education & Living ~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARZ2Wv2BoFs&feature=youtu.be
 
C

ChristIsGod

Guest
#59
This topic is important enough to post to the OP and for general information on a topic, though controversial, may affect each person that views these chat-forums.

From here on, I'd like to address the OP Topic with not only those presently affected but those that may at sometime, future tense, may have to deal with these problems and questions.

This is just one of many Doctors of Psychiatry that, in his lifetime of Clinical Practice, has fought lobotomies, ECT, racial testings and dangerous experimentation on a Governmental level.

This video is Dr Breggin appearing before a Congressional Hearing.

[video=youtube;SBJfZtB_3cc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBJfZtB_3cc[/video]



God Bless!
 
J

JesusistheChrist

Guest
#60
My response here isn't offered as THE answer to this question. Rather, it's merely an accurate account of one experience that I've personally had in relation to suicide.

Several years ago, one of my sisters, who claims to be a Christian (good luck finding evidence of the same) was suicidal. I come from a rather large family and several of my family members don't like me simply because I profess to be a Christian myself. Anyhow, when my sister was going through her ordeal (she wound up in a mental hospital), all of my family members were telling me NOT to go see her because if I did, according to them, then my sister would kill herself and her blood would be upon me. Well, gee...I'm glad (I'm being sarcastic, obviously) that they have such a high regard for me, but God Himself kept on urging me to go and see my sister. Quite frankly, I didn't want to go, but I've never felt the hand of God pressing against me (because I wouldn't go) like this before or since in my life. Anyhow, during the time of my refusal to go, another one of my sisters asked me to babysit her two young daughters for the day. It was close to Christmastime and she bought one of those gingerbread house kits for us to make (I'm mentioning this for a reason). Well, we were closely following the instructions in relation to the making of the gingerbread house. Yes, we put a lot of vanilla frosting (it came in packets and it was to be used as an adhesive) on the edges of the four gingerbread walls of the house and then used soup cans as support to hold them up until the vanilla frosting had sufficiently dried and hardened or until the walls were sufficiently stuck together. After about an hour, we then applied more vanilla frosting to the top edges of the four walls and also vanilla frosting to the edges of the two pieces of gingerbread which made up the roof of the house and stuck them all together, again with the supporting soup cans still in place, and left that all to dry for about another hour. Well, as soon as we removed the supporting soup cans, the entire thing fell apart and we needed to start over again from scratch. This time, we applied twice as much vanilla frosting and left everything to dry for twice as long (two hours as opposed to one). To make a long story short (this went on for hours), every time that we removed the supporting soup cans, the entire thing fell apart. Finally, God spoke to me as clearly as He ever has and basically told me the following (I'm paraphrasing):

In the same manner in which vanilla frosting, no matter how "sweet" and "palatable" it is, makes a terrible adhesive, so, too, are all the "sweet" and "palatable" words which your other family members are speaking to your suicidal sister of no avail.

In the same manner in which the whole gingerbread house fell apart whenever the supporting soup cans were removed, so, too, is your sister going to "fall apart" whenever her "support system" is removed. IOW, my other family members basically had an around the clock "support system" set up where different people took turns encouraging my suicidal sister.

God then told me the following (and I knew, pretty much, that He was going to which I why I initially didn't want to confront my sister):

Your sister's problem is this:

She's SELFISH (and nobody who knows her would ever deny the same. In fact, she's reknowned, in a negative sense, for the same) and her SELFISHNESS is now manifesting itself in SELF-PITY. If she doesn't REPENT OF THE SAME, then it's going to progress to SELF-DESTRUCTION or SUICIDE.

God then clearly told me to go and confront my sister about the same.

Well, at this point in time, she was no longer in the mental hospital, so I visited her at her home and, as diplomatically as I could, I told her what I knew that God had told me to tell her.

Her response?

Well, she became furious and threw me out of her home.

She's still alive today, though...

Anyhow, again, even though what I'm offering here isn't necessarily THE answer in that there could be different circumstances for different people, I have personally met many people who would much more easily KILL THEMSELVES than truly "lose their lives" by submitting the same fully to God. In such cases, once more, I fully believe that the underlying reason for the same is SELFISHNESS.