Depression

Yesterday, we began to discuss the different joy hormones that God has placed in us and how we can activate and boost those hormones.
Joy Hormones
Endorphin: laughter and exercise
Serotonin: doing good to others and charity
Dopamine: accomplish goals
Oxytocin: close relationships, belonging feeling

Good and healthy relationship is the most important key/ secret to experiencing joy in our lives. It is essential that you heal and restore the broken relationships (be it with your parent, your spouse, your pastor, or any other associate) in order to experience joy. Through social networks, we all have virtual friends who might be followers of our page and press the like button for every post, but they come under the acquaintances category since we don’t have a close relationship with them all.

Our close relationships are mainly with God, our family (parents, spouse, siblings, children) and friends/colleagues with whom we interact on a regular basis. The oxytocin hormone is released more even if we just think about those with whom we have a clean and intimate love relationship. Our thoughts, emotions and hormones are interconnected. We become joyful when we have a sense of belonging, knowing that we are loved  by God and our dear ones. On the contrary, if we don’t have this belonging feeling, an orphan mentality works in our mind even if we’re surrounded by thousands.

Oxytocin production in our body is increased when we express love by shaking hands, a tap on the shoulder or just an embrace. Young children need to be loved through repeated hugs. On that note, it’s vital that we train our children to discern between good touch and bad touch; and we must protect them from the latter. God has created us as social beings, and physical touch promotes joy and well-being in us. Something remarkable about Jesus' ministry is that He touched the lepers and was touched by the woman with the bleeding issue when the rest in the society were reluctant to do so, but that one touch of Jesus delivered them!

God’s touch is what you need : You need to touch Jesus the most and be prepared to receive His touch in return as well; and deep healing will flow into every area of your life! Make every effort to boost the joy hormones through laughter, physical exercise, doing good to others, accomplishing goals and nurturing good relationships. 

Having said that, let’s now deal with depression that shows up when joy decreases/ disappears from your life. Anxiety disorders and depression rank the 1st and 2nd worldwide among psychiatric disorders. 

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

In Jesus’ ministry, the first thing that Jesus did after saving a person was to deal with their brokenness and physical healing followed. See the medicines prescribed here in the Scripture for depression: oil of joy and a garment of praise. Though psychiatric treatment can rectify/ restore a majority of the mental issues within their knowledge and limitations, it fails to knock down the root cause of depression which is an evil spirit. 

In order to overcome depression, be willing to praise God. If depression is considered as darkness, you’re sending beams of light to that darkness as you deliberately praise God. Worshipping God with praise songs creates a heavenly atmosphere and lifts up all depression.

Depression has three levels - 
Mild - Discouragement: a loss of confidence or enthusiasm
Moderate -  Despondency: low spirits from loss of hope or courage
Severe -  Despair: the complete loss or absence of hope which results in suicidal tendencies. 

Majority of the people face discouragement, and taking deep breaths is a sign that you've become engrossed in discouragement. Never entertain it, instead resist those deep breaths by blowing out and confess with your mouth that you have overcome whatever is discouraging you at that moment.

Insomnia is a sign of despondency: 4 out of 10 people suffer from insomnia and they depend on pills to get some sleep. People in despair often have suicidal tendencies. Never give up because Jesus never gave up on you; He will build you up and use you for His glory.

Watch the full video here:

About The Author

Dr. Damien Antony
Born and brought up in a Christian family, Dr. Damien Antony possessed an unquenching quest for truth right from his boyhood days and eventually his relentless search led him to the Bible. He is a Revival Preacher, Bible Teacher, Leadership Trainer, Author and a Life Coach. He moves under the anointing for Prophetic, Healing, Deliverance, Inner Healing and Financial Breakthrough. God has also blessed him with an Apostolic Mandate to take the Universal Body of Christ to the next level of revelation and anointing.