views on anti-depressants and mood stabilizers?

[Micci]

So i was just wondering what everyone's views on antidepressants and mood stabilizers are?

I myself believe that they are a good thing if you have the imbalences that come with chronic depression and bi-polar and such. ofcourse there is a stigma with these diseases and in regard to them i believe everyone has something wrong with them and that they are just as much a disease as a physical disease.

[Olivia Josia Hamel]

I don't think anti depressants are neccesary. After all, medicine just comes with their own problems and makes it so you are not yourself. It's because of all these medicines that there are all those criminals, it changes their personality.

I believe God is the better 'anti-depressant' and 'mood-stabilizer'. All you would have to do is ask Him to heal you of bi-polar (etc) and/or depression, and then thank Him that you are already healed, keep speaking that, and you'd be fine.

[Deleted]

My wife has been proscribed by her doctor to take tablets for depression and they do help, but on the same note they don't cure!

I have just typed into the search line to find out what the bible says about this and this is what it has come back with.............



Question: "Should a Christian take anti-depressants or other mental health medicines?"

Answer: Panic attacks, anxiety disorders, phobias, and depression affect millions of people. Panic attacks can be particularly debilitating as they can strike a person with no warning. For most sufferers, what they experience is rooted in fear: fear of rejection, fear of acceptance, fear of responsibility, fear of the unknown. Something will trigger fear which drives the person to feel like he or she is losing control. Panic attacks are often both physically and psychologically intense.

Although medical experts believe that many times the above-mentioned ailments originate within a person's psyche, there are times when a chemical imbalance is the cause. If this is the case, medication is often prescribed to help counter the imbalance, which in turn treats the symptoms of the psychological ailment. Is this a sin? No. God has allowed man to grow in his knowledge of medicine, which God often uses in the healing process. Does God need man-made medicine in order to heal? Of course not! But God has chosen to allow the practice of medicine to progress, and there is no biblical reason not to avail ourselves of it.

However, there is a fine line between using medicine for healing purposes and continual reliance upon medicine for daily living. We need to recognize God as the Great Physician, and know that He alone holds the power to truly heal (John 4:14). We need to look to God first and foremost for our healing. Medicine used to treat a case of panic attack should only be used to the extent that it allows the sufferer to deal with the root cause of fear. It should be used to give back control to the sufferer. However, many sufferers take medicine in order to avoid dealing with the true cause of their ailment; this would be denying responsibility, denying God's healing, and possibly denying others the freedom of forgiveness or closure to some past event that could be contributing to the ailment. This, then, does become sin, as it is based on selfishness.

By taking medicine on a limited basis in order to treat the symptoms, then relying upon the Word of God and wise counsel to enact transformation in one's heart and mind, gradually the need for the medicine will diminish. The believer's position in Christ is affirmed, and God brings healing into those troubled areas of the heart and mind which are causing the ailment. God's Word has much to say about fear and its place in a believer's life. Reading through the following Scriptures and meditating on them is the universal cure. The following verses give confidence, and illuminate the truth behind what being a child of God entails: Proverbs 29:25; Matthew 6:34; John 8:32; Romans 8:28-39; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Philippians 4:4-9; Colossians 3:1-2; 2 Timothy 1:6-8; Hebrews 13:5-6; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 5:7; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 1:9; 4:18-19.

God can heal supernaturally and miraculously. We should pray to that end. God also heals through medicine and doctors. We should pray to that end as well. Regardless of which direction God takes, our ultimate trust must be in Him alone (Matthew 9:22).