Antidepressants. Use them?

Many people in the medical community believe that mood disorders reside in a person’s psyche, and there are times when a chemical imbalance could be the cause. When this is the case, medicine is usually prescribed to help offset the imbalance, and this is followed, for the most part, by a reduction of the symptoms. Do I believe that the use of medicine in these types of cases is antithetical to God’s word? No. I believe that God has allowed us to increase in our medical knowledge, and that He can use that knowledge in the healing process. However, does God need us or medicine to heal? He absolutely does not need any help. God has chosen to allow the progression of medical knowledge, and nowhere in scripture are we told not to use that knowledge. But there is a balance between using medicine for healing and relying on it for daily living. The Apostle John writes these words,

¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14 (NIV)

God is the Great Physician, and He alone holds the power to cure. God should always be first when we are searching for healing. Medicine used to treat depression should only be used to the degree that it allows the person to deal with the source of the ailment. The purpose of medicine should be to give control back to the person suffering from the disorder. When it is used in order for the sufferer to avoid facing the true cause of the problem, they are not facing their responsibility, and they are denying God’s healing. At this point the use of medicine does become sinful because it is based on selfishness.

To summarize my beliefs I will say that I believe with the use of medicine on a limited basis in order to treat symptoms followed by relying on the Word of God and wise counsel the need for the medicine should diminish over time. God can heal supernaturally and miraculously. We should always pray that He will heal, but we need to remember that God also heals through doctors and medicine.

"Si vales, valeo"
If you are well, I am well

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