Depression. What is the purpose of life?

I've been struggling with this thought quite a bit since I was a child. I didn't become a Christian until my late teens and at first I thought to myself... "Sweet, God will cure me of depression". The years have gone by, years of faithfulness. Years of living how I thought I was supposed to live, and yet, this question still lingers in my head. It's more than a lingering thought. It pretty much dominates my mind every day. Why should I be depressed if God loves me? Why should I still suffer suicidal thoughts on a nearly daily basis? What's the point in believing and loving God if he doesn't seem to care enough to fix my problems? A lot of the time I find myself thinking about forgetting God. He doesn't seem to care about me, so why should I care about him? If anybody can answer the question of what life's purpose is, I would appreciate it.

I can to some degree understand you. For a while I would wish God could take the fog that my mind can be consumed in or to take me out of this corrupted place. Unfortunately, it can't always be like that. I don't know why some can be healed by God and others don't. Sometimes the only answer that can be given is to hang in there.

Depression can be circumstantial, in which case I advise you take time to REALLY assess anything that may have or may currently be bringing you down and find a way to address it and overcome it.

In the case where it's not circumstantial, there is no 'one answer fits all.' I live with it but have learned how to cope with it, yet how I or anyone else manages it is subjective. It takes patience, character, and an actual will to overcome it.

By God's grace and will, I hope you're able to overcome it, Defeatist.

Defeatist, I think you have to try and find the root cause (or causes) of your depression. I suspect that your question about the meaning of life is more a the verbalization of your depression. In other words, getting the answer won't solve your depression.

Depression can be caused by many things such as an abusive upbringing, parents who should have cared but didn't, etc. But it can also be physiological, a nutritional deficiency, a lack of something your body needs. There is a type of depression called SAD which is Seasonal Affective Disorder that relates to the lack of sunlight exposure. It pops up in the winter time in many people when the length of day is short. It can also be caused by a lack of vitamin D.

One of the techniques for fighting off negative moods is to change what you're doing. If you routinely lead a sedentary life, get out and get some exercise. Take a walk for an hour. Change your activity, use a different part of your brain, and your mood changes as well. You may need to deliberately schedule more variety in your life. Do a little research online about causes of depression.

Please don't give up on yourself. I struggled with depression when I was younger; as I got older I got past it. I found meaning, definition and purpose through the study of the Word of God. Some of the time that I was growing spiritually I was also deeply depressed. But I persisted anyway.

Once you have depression for a long time, the brain changes. Literally! God could change it, but he might prefer to see you grow in character and maybe minister to those with depression, like yourself.

Have you seen a doctor and tried meds? I know many people that has worked well for. Please PM me if you want to talk more about this.

I'll leave you with my favorite passage of Scripture, which has great meaning for me.

"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [SUP]4 [/SUP]and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [SUP]5 [/SUP]andhope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5

Here is a link to a secular site, but it has a lot of accurate things to say about depression. And exercise and eating properly can help.

Pictures of Depression: Overwork, Recklessness, Sadness, and Recovery

To answer your question about what life's purpose is.

Revelation 4:11
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13
And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I commanded thee this day for thy good?

Micah 6:8 (I love this verse)
He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?


Question: are you unhealthy? – Poor health can cause terrible depression and it can be practically impossible to get rid of that depression until you address the health issue.

I find that I get severe depression when I worry about the future. The way I have beaten this is through a decision not to worry and then to diligently guard against all the little things in the world which try to make me worry or have anxiety. Also, when I feel like I might be getting depressed I start working on a task and focus on that task so as to keep my mind busy.

Matthew 6:34
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

As a grand finale, I find it very helpful to simply keep my eyes on Jesus and not on all the terrible things going on around me.

My recommendation is to read the Psalms. I read 5 a day, when I was very depressed, felt abandoned by God and men, and was far from God. It really changed me, and help me to know that I was not alone, that many had suffered, and that God was there all the time, and had a purpose for my life.

"Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]I am deeply depressed;" Psalm 42:5-6a HCSB

Knowing that someone in the Bible had been depressed, really helped me to know that I was not suffering alone, and that many others had fallen into the depression trap.

I pray you will find the help you need, and that God will minister to you through his Word, the Bible!

Have you gone along to see your Doctor about your Clinical Depression and if so, what kind of treatment has he given you?

Depression truly is an awful thing. I was horribly depressed for quite some time and wanted to die. But I am thankful now that I went through that terrible time because through it I discovered Jesus Christ. When I was suicidal, I started asking the big questions, like why do I suffer, does God exist, and if he does, is he good? If he is good, why does he let me suffer? Can he help me through my suffering? Or does he want me to suffer? Does he love me, like God-believing people say? So I asked the big questions and I got my answers. I started listening to Christian preachers and evangelists on YouTube, and things became clear to me and now I am much happier and I no longer am suicidal, instead, I want to live for Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

Okay... so here are some of the preachers and evangelists who helped me understand why the world is full of suffering:

I would really suggest that you take some time to watch/listen to these guys.

Ravi Zacharias
Vince Vitale
Michael Ramsden
D.A. Carson
Timothy Keller
Andy Bannister
Os Guinness
Richard Cunningham
Melvin Tinker (Oh, Melvin Tinker has a whole series of talks focused on the Book of Job, which primarily deals with suffering. This is really good.)

If you go to Bethinking.org, you'll find so many resources that can help you discover the profound love of God and help you understand why there is pain and suffering in the world.

I really hope you'll take time to look at these resources. I've been through deep depression so I understand the pain and hopelessness. I used to wake up in the morning and curse God and ask why he hasn't killed me yet, but now, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I want to do is to talk to him and tell him I love him and he is number one in my life and because of him I feel invincible and profoundly joyful and there's nothing else I need in life but him.

I really hope you see what God wants for you, and I really hope that you feel how God loves you deeply and that he is always looking after you.