Is melancholy related to temperament?

Have you ever been in a season of life where you feel like you were being swallowed up by sorrow?

I know I have gone through several seasons like that,

Is there such a thing as too much sorrow over sin?

Is it possible to be too sorrowful over personal sin?

Baxter proposes three things in his sermon on melancholy:

1. That sorrow, even for sin, may be overmuch.
2. That overmuch sorrow swalloweth one up.
3. Therefore it must be resisted and assuaged by necessary comfort, both by others, and by ourselves. (Page 1)

Granted, overmuch sorrow for sin is not the typical malady of mankind in today's culture. However, some soft hearted Christians can easily fall into the mindset that they can "never have sorrow enough" over sin and "some think those to be the best Christians who are most in doubts, and fears and sorrows and speak almost nothing but uncomfortable complaints; but this is a great mistake." (page 3)

Baxter goes on to say that there are two ways in which sorrow for sin can be overmuch.

1. The first is when it is "fed by a mistaken cause."

"If a man thinketh that somewhat is a duty, which is no duty, and then sorrow for omitting it, such sorrow is all too much... Many I have known who have been greatly troubled, because they could not bring themselves to that length or order of meditation, for which they had neither ability nor time...

This one will perhaps hit close to home for some.   

"And many are troubled, because in their shops and callings they think of anything but God, as if our outward business must have no thoughts." (page 3)

To put it simply, if you feel bad for doing something that is not even sin, your sorrow may be overmuch and lead to excessive melancholy.

For example, a new mother who is spending one hour out of every two round the clock feeding her baby ought not to feel excessive sorrow if she is unable to pray or read the Bible regularly because she has neither the ability nor the time for lengthy spiritual disciplines. (Obviously, a new mother should not give up on quiet times altogether, but this is not the most helpful season of life to be beating oneself up about it.)

The other example is an interesting one that I'm sure my friends in the medical or professional field can relate to. It is not a sin to think about your work while you are at work. For example, a pharmacist may not have the time or the mental ability to pray, memorize scripture, etc. while she is setting about the important work of filling prescriptions. She may need to devote her entire focus on the business at hand (I hope she is, anyway, for the sake of her patients!!) Therefore, she shouldn't feel sorrow over the fact that she can't pursue spiritual disciplines at work.

2. The second way that sorrow can be overmuch is "when it hurteth and overwhelmeth nature itself, and destroyeth bodily health or understanding." By this, I think Baxter means that sorrow (even over sin) should not lead to a destruction of your physical or mental health. You can read more on this in my previous post on the disease of melancholy.

Is melancholy a disease?

I have to be honest.... I don't know much about the science of depression or the theories of biblical counseling or how the two connect or conflict. I know some people say depression is a physical condition that needs to be treated with medicine while other people say it simply a sin issue that can be dealt with through counseling, reading the Bible more, prayer, etc. I certainly have no intentions of making an argument about these points. Much has already been written elsewhere, I'm sure. Just do a quick Google search.

These are just quotes and things I have gleaned from my readings, and I hope they encourage you as they have me...
Baxter wrote this sermon 350 years ago in a time when depression was known simply as "melancholy." He defines it in the following way:

"But when the brain and imagination are impaired, and reason partly overthrown by the disease called melancholy, this maketh the cure yet more difficult;" (page 8 of 41)

 I like the way he describes melancholy- as a disease in which the imagination is impaired. This is so accurate, is it not? Whatever the cause of the disease (sin or physical sickness or a predisposition to depression or whatever), it does seem to impair the imagination and overthrow one's ability to reason.

I'll let Baxter further describe the signs of melancholy:

"The trouble and disquiet of the mind doth then become a settled habit... they can delight in nothing... in a word, fears and troubles and almost despair are the constant temper of their minds... quiet them a hundred times, and their fears a hundred times return.... their misery is, that what they think they cannot choose but think..." (page 8 and 9)

I really like the following description:

"You may almost as well persuade a man not to shake in an fever, or not to feel when he is pained, as persuade them to cast away their self-troubling thoughts, or not to think all the enormous, confounding thoughts as they do; they cannot get them out of their heads night or day." (page 9)

If you read further in the sermon, the signs get more disturbing as the disease progresses- things that we would associate today with manic depression, schizophrenia, etc.

"...they seem to feel something besides themselves...bidding them to do this or that...they are exceedingly prone to think think they have revelations... prone to prophecies... and many of them turn heretics, and take up errors in religion... but these melancholy heretics and apostates usually by this cast off their sadness, and are not the sort that I have now to deal with... but the sadder, better sort, feeling this talk and stir within them, are oft  apt to be confident that they are possessed by the devil... When it is far gone, they are tempted to lay some law upon themselves never to speak more, or to eat... they often think that they have apparitions... and sometimes they are confident that they hear voices, and feel something touch or hurt them... they fly from company and can do nothing but sit and muse... and when it cometh to extremity, they are weary of their lives..." (page 9 and 10)

And for those of us who have not fallen so far deeply into melancholy, Baxter gives this warning:

"These are the doleful symptoms and effects of melancholy; and therefore how desirable is it to prevent them, or to be cured while it is but beginning, before they fall into so sad a state!"  (page 11)

So, if you think of melancholy as a disease that gets increasingly worse without treatment, it is exceedingly beneficial to cure the disease while it is in the early stages- before the patient becomes "swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." (2 Corinthians 2:7- the text for Baxter's sermon)

I'll leave you with that for now. More to come on how to cure melancholy according to Baxter. His suggestions are surprisingly gracious. If you are eager to read for yourself, just check out the links above.

Avoiding Blogger's Remorse- On the Topic of Melancholy

I've got an idea for a blog post/series, but I need to be careful so as not to have blogger's remorse once I hit the "Publish" button.

What I mean is this--- It's easy to get carried away with a blog post and write things that you wouldn't normally tell the general public. Granted, you can always delete the post, but with feed readers, etc., you can never totally remove the digital footprint that is made with those words.

My idea relates to the topic of melancholy (aka sadness, depression, gloominess, discouragement, etc).

Enjoying the great outdoors (in the City, of course)

We were going to spend some time at the river this weekend, but after driving around in circles for awhile we realized that all the roads were closed due to a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk going on downtown. Once we finally got turned back around, we decided to just let the boys walk around at the seminary for a little bit.

Hanging out in front of the library

There was almost a collision here...

Trying to keep up with big brother.

"David, look up, baby."

"There he is!"

Austin before Church on Sunday

Ha, this last one cracks me up. I got Austin all dressed up for church in some sharp white shorts and a button up shirt, and then I see him running outside with a hat and bag looking like he is going on a safari. I just had to take a picture.