One of the chords Asaph strikes in Psalm 73 is the issue of dealing with the realities of living in a broken world and how that affects us emotionally, physically and spiritually. You can listen more here if you missed it.
Men get depressed too…
For men, the idea of depression seems feminine or weak. Yet, the reality is that men struggle with depression – even Christian men. In his book, Unmasking Male Depression, Archibald Hart writes,
Depression is the hidden, secret pain at the core of many men’s lives. The myth in evangelical Christendom is that depression is a sure sign that you are defective in your reliance on God, that you are weak in faith, or, worst of all, that sin lurks in your inmost being.
But, Men do struggle with darkness and depression. And the sooner we are honest about this, the sooner we can find healing.
How do I know?
One of the problems with male depression is that rarely does a man feel depressed. Men act depressed. Hart writes,
In male depression we have to look at how men act, not at how they feel. Angry outbursts, becoming easily annoyed, increased sexual activity, workaholism, emotional and social withdrawal, coldness, aloofness, and even forms of family violence are nearer the depression mark than the crying and hopelessness of female depression.
If you are a man who struggles with depression or darkness, you are not alone. There are other men would want to walk with you through this.
