God’s care for mental health part 2…
Verse 3 tells us that the prophet is afraid. This is a normal response to the stressor and an emotion that illicit the fight or flight response from the sympathetic nervous system. The point of observation I want to bring out here is that the emotional response—fear to the stressor is what precipitates the action—running. See now we have the beginning of developing habits or unhealthy coping. By responding long enough to an emotion with an action, one develops behavioral habits.
This is normal, however, to change bad habits one must identify first the reasonableness of the message and secondly the emotion solicited by the stressor. In the case of our prophet the message from the evil queen causes a very powerful emotion—fear. Was it a reasonable emotional response? Probably. Was it a reasonable action by Elijah to run like he did? Probably not. This is where therapy can help. The therapist can help one determine if this is a reasonable response to a stressor or is this poor coping.
Notice he left is servant. The servant is the person that ministered to him and assisted him in his ministry. What does this inform us about? He has no support system to normalize his feelings. Had he had another human to bounce his emotions and stressors off from, there may have been a diffusing of the situation. A friend, church, family, or therapist can often help to quench extreme emotions. Unfortunately, the depressed or anxious often run away from support and leading them to isolation and further depression as we shall see.
Moving on…The prophet is exhausted from running from his stressors (threats of being killed by the evil queen). He is expressing wishes to die. We must not overlook this situation because this is a mental health issue. There are thousands of people that can identify with this example of Elijah. First, his lethargy and feelings of worthlessness. Did you know these symptoms are hallmark in major depressive disorder. In fact, one article states, “It is diagnosed when an individual has a persistently low or depressed mood, anhedonia or decreased interest in pleasurable activities, feelings of guilt or worthlessness, lack of energy, poor concentration, appetite changes, psychomotor retardation or agitation, sleep disturbances, or suicidal thoughts” (Bains & Abdijadid, 2023). In clinical practice, this symptom profile is very common. Depression is one of the most common mental health diagnoses. Anxiety is often comorbid with depression.
Does that word picture fit Elijah at this point of time? I think so. The poor man has no energy, depressed mood, feeling worthless and wants to die. What has led him to this condition? If you remember Elijah has just come from a state of hyperarousal, a state of flight. He now is spent. He is spent emotionally, physically, mentally, and isolated socially. He is also exhibiting loss of appetite.
Dealing with life stressors can be exhausting. Many people have depleted their ability to cope with life stressors and have come to be exhausted. In turn, they have come to cope or deal with life by sleeping, hiding away, and unhealthy coping like substance abuse.
Faulty thought processing in terms of catastrophizing is common in depression. Elijah is catastrophizing in his thought processing. The means that one jumps to the worst possible conclusion in each situation. This leads to depression or exacerbates depression. It is a vicious cycle that many people experience. Elijah’s thought process is extreme. He feels that he is the only one zealous for God. He in some respects is exhibiting a victim mentality probably in response to this traumatic stressor and inability to deal with it.
Also note how Elijah seemed to let himself go. There is no proper and routine self-maintenance. Often, in those that are suffering from depression, self-care is lacking. Routine is also lacking. A common observation is that the person has just “let themselves go”. This looks like excess sleeping, poor hygiene, no sleep/wake schedules, lack of physical activities, and poor nutritional intake.
It is also important to note there are no mental health conditions that are clear and cut. There are no neat diagnoses that are easy to fix. Most conditions are messy, they are a mixture of various causes like brain chemistry, environmental issues, family dynamics, and physical problems. Treatment is often on many levels as well. There is often no one treatment that can address depression. Realizing that depression is a multidimensional condition is a starting point and that working on a multilevel approach is the best course of action.
So how does God handle Elijah’s depression? Continued in part 3.
Reference
Bains, N., & Abdijadid, S. (2023). Major Depressive Disorder. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.American Psychological Association. (2017). What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Sowers Pouch 