With modernization comes lifestyle changes. Social media has taken up a big part of our lives and it has become almost an "epidemic" as a result of digitization. Quite likely, the first thing that we do in the morning is to check our smart devices and the routine repeats itself one last time before we go to sleep.
Endless responsibilities, living up to society's expectations, mounting commitments - it all adds up to the pressure and it won't be long before we realize we could only take so much. We seek different avenues to get away from this pressure, even if it was temporal.
In most cases, we will bounce back and the cycle repeats - it's one of those days where the blues happens. When someone does not recover from these blues, that will be the time when we need to reach out to that person before it's too late.
Signs of Depression
Depression symptoms differs from one person to another. Generally, these are some of the anxiety symptoms to look out for:
Difficulty in concentrating
No longer interested in activities that he/she used to love
Insomnia or sleeping way longer hours that he/she would
Lost of zest and energy
Excessive weight loss (without dieting) or weight gain in short period of time
Feeling "empty", helpless, appearing sad or tearful
Feeling "worthlessness", self-condemning, unusually high level of guilt
Sudden, unplanned suicidal thoughts
Agitation, easily angered over the smallest issues
Increase activity level with social support group e.g. go for a movies, shopping, gaming, small gatherings etc. with friends and family
Exercise and sweat it out or do some quiet yoga and meditation
Confide in trusted people e.g. family, pastors, church leaders, teacher, life coach, best buddies etc.
Take up a new hobby / learn a new skills
Get a close friend / family to check on you every other day
The Healing Touch
No doubt when signs of depression occurs, the first sensible thing to do is seek medical attention, get an assessment and the necessary recommended medication. The journey to recovery is often a bumpy one but always remember that you are not walking this painful journey alone. In fact, you are never alone because Jesus Christ is your personal healer if you allow him into your life and let him do all the spiritual healing for you.
The whole idea of getting out there and meeting friends is to minimize alone time. However, it is practically impossible to have a company 24-hours a day. There are bound to have some time, perhaps in the shower or bedtime, where your mind will start to wonder and negative thoughts will start to creep in. This is exactly where you need to continuously say a prayer and proclaim "I am the righteousness of God in Christ" until negative thoughts leave your mind.
Prayer for Healing
Here are some suggestion of healing scriptures that serves as a daily devotional, a true power of healing of Jesus Christ. Keep on declaring that you have received the healing you desire through the prayer for healing / prayer for the sick:
Access the audio version of these healing scriptures and play it whenever you need a reminder that God has given you healing found in His words, in the Bible.
Prayer for Strength
When your mind starts to go astray and your anxiety symptoms / depression symptoms starts to show, when you needed the faith and strength to cast out negative thoughts from your mind, pray these prayer of strength and know that the battle is the Lord's!
