These are good questions Jon...and comments.  I will pass them along!

Thank you!

I think one of the biggest strength of organized faith is in the sense of community people get.  There's comfort in being with people that have the same beliefs and feelings you have, another sort of therapy I guess.

This will be contraversial ...so people can criticise this comment all they like......

At the present time in my life I think belief in logic (or other thoughts) is another persons irrational thought...thoughts, and beliefs are all concepts built by the mind/brain and all can be changed at the drop of a hat...(or something else! Arrgh yes another thought or construct)...and that's why we can all recover from depression if we discover the method or beliefs that free us from our self generated torment! For some this will be religion and for others self discovery and releasing the past and self limiting beliefs that are unhelpful to us. Life with only logic blocks out our feelings and i BELIEVE that to recover we must acknowledge our feelings and open our minds to the learning this brings...even Jesus (who I understand to be a real person) spent time in the desert reflecting. By the way I'm an atheist but do respect that everyone has a right to their own beliefs.

Hypno

Dear MM and all,    If faith was easy, it wouldnt be faith. Faith is a test of perseverance, trust, patience in suffering, that all will be well, that God hears every prayer [even though not always answered in the way we'd like] if we have faith in our kids [ I dont have any] but  we just have faith that they ll come through their disabilities, their mental anguish, the Drug Culture, the instant sex culture theyre bombared with in the media, Faith is believing through the odds, that our loved ones wont cheat, even though they maybe getting the chance to daily in their work place etc., its the faith that our kids will grow up to be wise and  its knowing that  our Depression / Anxiety/ Phobias all this anguish and suffering isnt in vain.    Ive thought about this alot. I think that if we had no physical health issues, no emotional health issues, we would be ptetty smug people and wouldnt have the empathy we have.

My question MM would be what percentage of Psychiatrists actually feel that they are dealing with the whole person  ie Spiritually, emotionally, when treating Depression.  Unfortunately it has been my experience that alot of Psychiatrists and therapists, dont believe in an after life and whilst not actually saying it, dismiss the spiritual aspect/dimension of the human suffering they encounter daily. Concentrating instead, just on the actual disorder in the #brain ie lack of Serotonin/Noradrenaline/Dopamine and high levels of Cortisol and they medicate the above with Chemicals to regulate the transmission of these neuro transmittors. Also Sedatives to regulate the Anxiety and stress caused by the high Cortisol levels.  CBT on the other hand goes a little further in so much as it captures and questions the thought before it can have that negative effect on the brain chemistry. Plse note Im not discounting DNA and propensity towards Depession.

What am I trying to say? Well I believe true recovery from Depression and anxiety comes from looking at our belief systems, the Ego, Our Vanity, our Pride, our desparate need to 'fit in' not wanting to be the oversensitive, tuned in , creative, caring, shy people that many of us are. Afraid to be ourselves we put on layers of pretence. This has a price in anxiety. Fear - the fear of  natural things [thats healthy] but fear of being taken advantage of, of others seeing our fear, our timidity, our open heartedness, so we spurn intimacy and what we want is what we also fear.  We live empy shallow lives and put on an act to be accepted and not to get walked on. Its a v high price. Were afraid to be ourselves coz we wont be loved if someone gets to really know us, so we have a ghosty confidence.   Its just that when Ive spoken about Spiritual growth, and being in the Public system, I can see the psychiatrist get impatient so i say , you dont believe in a higher power? a  separate need for a spiritual clean out of hate, unforgiveness etc and they sort of remain silent.  We have a fantastic Prof of Psychiatry here in Ireland, Corry. He like some of the great psychiatrists,believes the spirit, soul, forgiveness etc all have a great bearing on Mental health and relief of Depression. That it cant be treated solely with Chemicals to sort out Brain Chemistry. He includes Schizophenia in that too.

Again - I am incapable of writing a short post. sorry this is so long.

Dear Merely Me, and all,

Prayer doesnt have to be organised, its a simple conversation with God, who I believe, created us. I speak to God all the time, in the mornings esp with the awful withdrawals, I say 'god, im trembling, help me get out of this bed' I speak to God in my frail flawed human way from my human thinking perspective as my human Earth mind cant comprehend the vastness/greatness of his love so I have to think of God as a he, a person who loves us and who died for us on the Cross.      

Paul - I get where youre coming from. In the bigger picture of Eternity, this life is only a speck, a wait at a Train Station.  God gave us Freewill. To abuse, to love,  to kill, to be kind.  This is a trial, a waiting place, not an eternity.

Jesus on earth never refused to heal anyone - he even cried alongside dreadful suffering when he encountered it, and healed it.    Child abuse and illness is not the work of God.  I believe if we didnt have dreadful Evil we wouldnt understand the polarity of Goodness.  Abuse isnt an alien phenomena to me.  I get very angry at all the physical and sexual clerical/institutional abuse that happened in my Country [Ireland] and how the Clergy [on a v high level] spent great sums of money to Lawyers to cover it up, to try and silence the abused. this is a great Evil. I believe God is just as hurt and wounded over this as I am.  I believe he will take care of that - 'revenge is  mine sath the Lord'   

Finally, are people who belong to a Religious community and who pray and believe in the afterlife more likely to recover from depression?

Finally nothing to do with question in hand - MM i think you used this prayer before, it really does help me, its used in addiction programmes aa,NA etc

God, Grant me the Serentiy,   To Accept the things I cannot change.

Courage to change the things I can change.

And the Wisdom   to Know the difference.

Dear Paul,

Dear Paul, I can identify completely with what you say.  I have been a Christian for over thirty years but am now questioning God's Goodness/Powerfulness.  I now don't see how he can have both these attributes when I read of the suffering of little children who have been tortured and killed by the very people who should have been providing them with love and care.  I can understand, to a certain extent, the reason behind the suffering of an adult who may have something to learn and God uses this way way of reaching them: but a baby, or a small child?  Why doesn't God intervene to prevent such abuse? I cannot bear the thought of such an innocent bearing pain and wondering what he/she has done wrong to deserve such treatment.   On top of the anguish I feel for these innocents I feel guilt for doubting my Lord.