Past Issues

Objective: Depression is a bio-psycho-socio-spiritual disorder. Depression
inevitably forces people to face experiences of meaninglessness and hopelessness.
In this overview, I intended to review Christian’s aspect of spiritual care on depression,
restoring meaning, purpose and hope for the depressed person. Method:
Based on my practice of Christianity and psychiatry, I searched the literature on
the topic area. Results: I fi rst describe depressive feeling in those with Christian
faith, and explained the importance of restoring the meaning in Christianity. Then,
I deal with depression with eight aspects: (A) Jesus: a man of sorrow and acquainted
with grief, (B) prayer: God as therapist, (C) Christian fellowship: a strong social
support, (D) suffering: a blessing in disguise, (E) hope: enabling courage to live,
(F) forgiveness: healing of trauma, (G) letting go: overcoming loss, and (H) love:
overcoming learned helplessness. Conclusion: By adding Christian spiritual care
to ordinary psychiatric treatments, Christians suffering with depression can get a
holistic treatment for their depression.