The world teaches us to be strong, as the tears of the weak are not worthy of sympathy. So men try not to cry, while women are also becoming stronger and more independent. However, increasingly more people suffer from depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, gamophobia, and social anxiety disorder. According to the 2022 Blue Book on National Depression, there are more than 95 million people with depression in China.
I recently received a phone call of a reader, who said that she had been prone to depression since when she was seven years old. Now she is in her early thirties, married, and has two children. She had particularly serious symptoms in recent years and often had the idea of committing suicide. Her husband had to call her many times during the day and tried to comfort her at night. Although her husband loves her very much, she still cannot shake off her depression.
Generally, people cannot overcome mental illness by their own will, but even some seemingly strong people cannot avoid depression either.
Recently, CoCo Lee, a Hong Kong-American singer-songwriter, passed away due to depression, even though she always showed a positive and optimistic side. In February of this year, CoCo Lee wrote that she was born with a defect in her left leg and underwent surgery at age two to repair her left leg, which turned out unsuccessful. Over the years, CoCo has been singing and dancing with his right leg. At the end of every dance, her leg hurt like hell. It's hard to imagine her decades of suffering. But even such a strong lady did not overcome the torture of depression.
At the same time, Huiyu (a pseudonym), who served in a northern church, was interviewed by the Christian Times, an online Christian newspaper in China.
The lady who served the youth fellowship said that only by getting the love of Christ could people easily overcome darkness, fear, and death.
Huiyu said that the youth fellowship, which was established two years ago, is now mainly served by four young female Christians. Only a few believers gathered in the past year or so. But since the beginning of this year, some people with mental illness have joined successively. They are either manic, delusional, or depressed, and all of them are around 20–30 years old. They have varying degrees of body trembling and frequent crying, or are unable to express themselves completely. Huiyu believed that this was related to their past experiences, during which they were deeply hurt.
Huiyu said frankly that these female staff workers felt inexperienced and unprofessional when they first came into contact with them, worried that they were not qualified for the difficult job.
But the Lord moved them and gave them confidence. They prayed, gathered, paid visits, accompanied them like before, and also did some bible study. Slowly, one patient was healed, and the Lord continued to show His strength to cure them one after another.
The female patient with mania made up her mind to stop taking drugs and talked clearer and more orderly, without shaking her body any more. Another female one with depression also showed smiles on her face. The third one with the delusion of being murdered, who could not sleep before, soon returned to sleep after receiving the gospel. She did not have a job before, but later she found one and went on doing it.
Staff workers felt that they did not do anything except give company. The patients cannot tell how they have changed. At first, they all wanted to reject the gospel, but then they followed the church workers to pray, read the Bible, praise, and attend the gathering, with their mentality being changed. They felt that the torturous dark forces had receded and had been replaced with peace and joy.
Huiyu concluded that it was the wonderful love and ability of the Lord that enabled people to bear pain and have the courage to face past injuries. The love of the Lord came into their lives, and they let go of the past hurts and chose forgiveness. No force could bind them anymore. Even though they are still weak before the Lord, they can overcome suffering by relying on the Lord.
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
这个世界教导我们要坚强，因为弱者的眼泪不值得被同情。所以不但男人不流泪，女人也越来越坚强、独立。然而当前，患抑郁症、强迫症、焦虑症、恐婚心理、社交恐惧的人群大幅度增加。据《2022年国民抑郁症蓝皮书》估算，中国泛抑郁人数超过9500万。
笔者最近接到一位读者电话，她自述自己七岁就开始有抑郁倾向。如今她三十出头，已经结婚有了两个孩子。这几年症状尤其严重，常常有“不想活了”的念头。丈夫在白天每天要打好多电话叮嘱她，晚上回到家也总是想办法安慰她。虽然有个很爱她的丈夫，她仍然无法摆脱抑郁的情绪。
一般普通人无法靠自己的意志去战胜心理疾病，然而很多看来内心很强大的人物也同样无法避免抑郁症。
最近，女星李玟因抑郁离世，她之前呈现的总是积极乐观的一面。今年2月，李玟发文称她天生左腿有缺陷，两岁时就接受了左腿的修复手术，但手术并不成功。这么多年以来，李玟全靠右腿支撑唱跳。每次跳舞结束，她的腿都痛得要命。忍痛几十年，简直无法想象。但就是如此坚强的一个人，最终也没有战胜抑郁症的折磨。
与此同时，一位在北方教会服事的慧玉（化名）接受了中国一网络基督教报纸基督时报的采访。
这位服侍青年团契的人说道只有得到基督的爱，人才能轻松战胜黑暗、恐惧、死亡。（==当summary）
慧玉说，两年前成立的青年团契，现在主要由四位青年女基督徒服事。之前一年多的时间只有几位信徒聚会。但是今年年初开始，陆续有一些特殊的人被介绍过来。她们要么是狂躁症，要么是被害妄想症，要么是抑郁症，都是20-30岁左右。症状都是不同程度的身体发抖，常常大哭，说话也无法表达完整……慧玉认为这些患有心理疾病的姐妹都跟过去的经历有关，因为她们曾受到很深的伤害。
慧玉姐妹坦言，刚开始接触这样的病人，几位服事的姊妹觉得自己没有经验、不够专业，担心这工作太难、自己不配做这个工作。
但是主感动他们，不让她们灰心。他们正常祷告、聚会、探访和陪伴，并进行一些圣经学习。慢慢地有一个人被医治了，主继续将痛苦的灵魂加给他们，一个又一个人得到了医治。
狂躁症姐妹下定决心停药，说话变得清楚有序，身体不再发抖。抑郁症姐妹脸上也露出了笑容。被害妄想症姊妹，之前总觉得有人要杀害自己，无法入睡，接受福音不久就恢复了睡眠。她之前一直没有工作，后来找到工作并坚持做下去。
服事者觉得自己并没有做什么，只是给予了陪伴。而患者也说不清楚自己是怎么改变的，她们刚开始都是想要拒绝福音，但是后面跟着教会同工一起祷告、读经、赞美、参加聚会，心态就改变了。他们就感觉一直折磨他们的黑暗势力退去了，取而代之的是平安和喜乐。
慧玉总结道：是主奇妙的爱和能力让人拥有承受痛苦的能力，有面对过去伤害的勇气。主的爱进入到他们的生命中，他们放下了、饶恕了，没有任何势力可以再捆绑他们了。即便在主面前他们依旧是软弱的，但是靠着主，他们可以胜过苦难。
访谈: 比起个人意志，心理疾病患者更要依靠基督的爱
The world teaches us to be strong, as the tears of the weak are not worthy of sympathy. So men try not to cry, while women are also becoming stronger and more independent. However, increasingly more people suffer from depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, gamophobia, and social anxiety disorder. According to the 2022 Blue Book on National Depression, there are more than 95 million people with depression in China.
I recently received a phone call of a reader, who said that she had been prone to depression since when she was seven years old. Now she is in her early thirties, married, and has two children. She had particularly serious symptoms in recent years and often had the idea of committing suicide. Her husband had to call her many times during the day and tried to comfort her at night. Although her husband loves her very much, she still cannot shake off her depression.
Generally, people cannot overcome mental illness by their own will, but even some seemingly strong people cannot avoid depression either.
Recently, CoCo Lee, a Hong Kong-American singer-songwriter, passed away due to depression, even though she always showed a positive and optimistic side. In February of this year, CoCo Lee wrote that she was born with a defect in her left leg and underwent surgery at age two to repair her left leg, which turned out unsuccessful. Over the years, CoCo has been singing and dancing with his right leg. At the end of every dance, her leg hurt like hell. It's hard to imagine her decades of suffering. But even such a strong lady did not overcome the torture of depression.
At the same time, Huiyu (a pseudonym), who served in a northern church, was interviewed by the Christian Times, an online Christian newspaper in China.
The lady who served the youth fellowship said that only by getting the love of Christ could people easily overcome darkness, fear, and death.
Huiyu said that the youth fellowship, which was established two years ago, is now mainly served by four young female Christians. Only a few believers gathered in the past year or so. But since the beginning of this year, some people with mental illness have joined successively. They are either manic, delusional, or depressed, and all of them are around 20–30 years old. They have varying degrees of body trembling and frequent crying, or are unable to express themselves completely. Huiyu believed that this was related to their past experiences, during which they were deeply hurt.
Huiyu said frankly that these female staff workers felt inexperienced and unprofessional when they first came into contact with them, worried that they were not qualified for the difficult job.
But the Lord moved them and gave them confidence. They prayed, gathered, paid visits, accompanied them like before, and also did some bible study. Slowly, one patient was healed, and the Lord continued to show His strength to cure them one after another.
The female patient with mania made up her mind to stop taking drugs and talked clearer and more orderly, without shaking her body any more. Another female one with depression also showed smiles on her face. The third one with the delusion of being murdered, who could not sleep before, soon returned to sleep after receiving the gospel. She did not have a job before, but later she found one and went on doing it.
Staff workers felt that they did not do anything except give company. The patients cannot tell how they have changed. At first, they all wanted to reject the gospel, but then they followed the church workers to pray, read the Bible, praise, and attend the gathering, with their mentality being changed. They felt that the torturous dark forces had receded and had been replaced with peace and joy.
Huiyu concluded that it was the wonderful love and ability of the Lord that enabled people to bear pain and have the courage to face past injuries. The love of the Lord came into their lives, and they let go of the past hurts and chose forgiveness. No force could bind them anymore. Even though they are still weak before the Lord, they can overcome suffering by relying on the Lord.
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
Mental Illness Healed by God's Love
