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One of My Strangest Anxiety Symptoms
Four years ago, after my daughter was born, I developed postpartum depression and anxiety–PPD/A for short. I had never felt anything like PPD/A before. My heart either raced like a crazy hamster on a wheel or I felt so tired that I could barely perform everyday tasks. I vascillated between the two for a long time, anxiety winning more often than not, until the medicine I had been taking began to help. I stayed on medication, in addition to exercising, changing my diet, and spending extra time with family, for about nine months. I was able to go off of the medication for almost a year and a half, at…
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How to Return to the Land of the Living, with Strength and Courage
Througout my struggles with anxiety and depression, I’ve found frequent help in the Psalms. While King David did not suffer from PPD/A, he did experience times of depression, such as when he fled from Saul as a young man and then later in life when he fled from his own son. King David also experienced times of anxiety. I know exactly how David feels when he writes, “I am poured out like water; and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me…
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How Psalm 69 Speaks to Depression
Depression feels like the first verses of Psalm 69 describe: “Save me, O God!For the waters have come up to my neck.I sink deep in the mire,where there is no foothold;I have come into deep water,and the flood sweeps over me.I am weary with my crying out;my throat is parched.My eyes grow dimwith waiting for my God.” These verses give me the feeling that David was sinking deep into the darkness of his own thoughts and his own emotions, and possibly didn’t see a way out. In a literal sense, depression can cause our sight to grow dim; we view the world with less joy and energy, and that translates…
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The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
Have you ever wondered how we got here, to this new world where people can define who they are by simply thinking so? How did the fetters of society falter to create a world where people can do just about anything and be applauded for it? Where do we go from here, especially as Christians, living in this strange time of seemingly sudden and radical change? Carl Trueman answers these questions, and many more, in his book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. Trueman begins the book by tracing our current thought patterns all the way back to the 1600s. He explains how philosophers and artists, such as…
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And the Things of Earth Will Grow…Strangely Bright
I’m going to begin this book review of Strangely Bright, by Joe Rigney, by telling you what depression can feel like. This might be an odd way to begin a book review, but bear with me and you’ll understand by the end–I promise. Sometimes depression feels like a veil hangs between you and the world, muting colors, sights, and sounds. Nothing appears bright; everything seems like its covered in a layer of gray and lifeless dust. Joy becomes a laughable affair when you can’t even see clearly what’s around you. How can you enjoy something that looks just as dingy as everything else? Sometimes depression saps all of your energy…