Homework for those who are Depressed.

Homework for those who are depressed. One is useful, and I make sure, is this person getting enough sleep, food, physical needs being taken care of. My wife has found, with ladies who are depressed, sometimes it helps to just take them out, and get them some exercise by taking them on a walk and talking to them, to get them moving. Maybe they need some help with structure, and then to work with that gradually. Not 16 productive hours a day to start with, but baby steps.
Help the person to deal biblically with their depression, if there’s sin to confess, to submit to God’s sovereignty and to trust him in the midst of your circumstances. That phrase of Lloyd Jones, “Stop listening to yourself, “start talking to yourself.” To put another Verse to that, that’s what the psalmist is doing in Psalm 42 and 43, but as Paul says, “Whatever is true, honorable, right, “fair, lovely, of good repute, “anything excellent and praise-worthy, “dwell on these things.” Rather than letting our minds drift, to think about the things we know to be true and profitable concerning the Lord.
Paul Tripp writes, “There’s no one “who has more influence on your soul than yourself.” No one talks to you more. So, what are you saying to yourself? You need to speak the truth of the word of God, to hope in Him, to proclaim your hope in Christ to yourself, day after day, realizing that the solution, or even the good feelings, may not come right away. You have a great hope when Christ returns that you will have everlasting joy. For many, the appropriate homework is to start to cycle out of the depression by getting your focus off of yourself towards serving God and serving others. I have, in your notes, Reading. I think, for a counselor, reading Welch’s book ‘Depression: A Stubborn Darkness’ is a good assignment. I think you’d have to be a pretty disciplined counselee who could read that on his own, but there are booklets and shorter things for our counselees. There are also some audios I recommend. I think spending time, and even memorizing portions of these Psalms we’ve talked about, and caring, and showing compassion. Second Corinthians 4:8 says, “We are afflicted “in every way, but not crushed. “Perplexed, but not despairing.” Some are afflicted, but by God’s Grace, we don’t have to despair because we have a hope in Christ.