As someone who is highly functional but struggles with anxiety and depression, this mental health situation can often be invisible. why? Highly functional individuals know how to get things done. They are usually the type of individuals who are productive, highly intensive, overachieved and living with conditions. Still, they can still suffer deeply.
Inside, the script is played in your mind: you are strong. You have it all together. You don’t need help from other people. You are independent, successful, crazy organized. But what if they knew? What happens if you can see your anxiety and depression piling up and suffering within you? What if they could see how you really felt inside?
For those suffering from high functional depression, this type of lifestyle is normal. A smile hides the pain, but the inside is broken. I know this. Because that’s the road I’ve walked for a few days. What does this mean to suffer quietly? So, what is highly functional depression?
What is highly functional depression?
Like high-functioning anxiety, individuals with high-functioning depression still function fairly well. From outside, it appears that there are no problems completing daily tasks. This is where conditions like persistent depressive disorder (PDD/dysthymia) act, a mild but long-term form of depression.
By definition, mood levels include low moods for at least two years. Common signs include fatigue, numbness, self-criticism and difficulty in enjoying life. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is accompanied by more intense episodes of these symptoms, but pain in people suffering from high-functional depression can still be debilitating.
People with mild depression may seem highly functional, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t fought the difficult battle yet. And that’s exactly why it’s not often missed or taken seriously even from within the church.
Why is it often overlooked even in churches?
People who suffer from high-functioning anxiety and depression are often highly successful. They mask discomfort with productivity, but over time the pressure to be continuously successful and united together turns into debilitating fatigue.
Faith culture may praise “strength” while ignoring suffering, but this is not the Bible. God cares about all of our emotions, including physical and mental health conditions and the side effects that often accompany both. Christians need to praise God, but it’s okay to tell them exactly how we feel.
That’s why I love poetry sal. In one line we hear David sing mostly, but express his innermost struggle. There is a beautiful balance between joy and lament, and we choose to choose God at work in the worst places of despair.
Instead of telling depression individuals to “pray more” or “stop being lazy,” learn to respond to love. Learn to provide shoulders to cry and support them. Ask them where they are and don’t judge them about how they feel.
The dangers of mentalization
But beyond harmful and harmful advice there is a great risk of mentally inflicted suffering. Yes, God can bring goodness out of confusion, but when someone is dealing with wounds, it is not the time to give that advice. Statements like “God never gives you more than you can handle” are simply harmful and not biblical. They rejected and are invalidated.
The pressure to be “alright” in a Christian space is certainly not okay. This generation needs Christians like you and me. They need a heartfelt voice to support the truth. Instead of ignoring the gospel, we see the pain of people through the love that Jesus gave us, even when Jesus was suffering. If someone knows what it’s like to be misunderstood and judged, then yes. It should bring great comfort to us.
At Matthew 11:28-30, the invitation from Jesus is honest. “All those who come to me and are tired and burdened, I will yoke you and learn from me. I am calm and humble.
Matthew 11:28 doesn’t say:
– To me, perfect everyone.
– To me, everyone who is mentally stable.
-All you who have never been depressed by me.
– To me, everyone who is always cheerful.
No, Matthew 11’s command only comes to receive what we can never offer ourselves.
Breaking the silence
If you or someone who knows you are suffering from depression is trying to break the silence today, I might encourage just a few steps of vulnerability.
Instead of acting like everything is perfectly fine, confess your struggle to a trusted friend, mentor, or therapist. Don’t be afraid to seek help from a counselor and be involved in mental health resources that are practical and provide support from a biblical perspective. These action steps won’t magically destroy your depression, but they should help you feel a little lonely.
Over time, we can learn to see ourselves not as Christians, as people who struggle mentally, but as people who help others and help others for our struggle. After all, it’s when we become weaker that we become stronger. His power passes through us and works in us (2 Corinthians 12:10). And that confusion we have gone through may be the message he uses to feel validated by others.
We can fear disappoint others, or let go of not being strong enough because we were never. We weren’t created to carry the burden ourselves and we weren’t going to fill them up.
Hope for the hidden person
Friends, I want you to know where you are today, no matter where you are. You don’t have to fake that you are okay, and depression will not disqualify you from faith. Seeking help has its strengths and can be healed, even if it takes a long time. There is hope for those who are hidden when two things happen:
1. They will no longer be hidden.
2. Someone is standing up for someone who is still hiding.
Today it is either authentic or can be placed on the facade. One leads to healing and the other leads to pain. The choice is yours, my friend. And God is with you.
Let’s pray:
Dear God, depression can become such a debilitating mental health condition. When I’m exhausted, tired, exhausted, tired, tired, tired, tired, tired, and tired of acting like I have everything together when I’m not, remind me that I don’t need to put it together to come to you. You not only welcome me, but you want me, flaws, etc. because I am your child. You chose me by purpose and identity before I was born, and that is the most important thing. You can’t take that identity from me.
Help me support the truth about depression and anxiety that Christians face, whether it’s harmful to others or even to myself. It releases the pressure I often put on myself and allows me to look at you and your beloved arms. Lord, we praise, thank you, and love you. Amen.
Agape, Amber
Photo credit: ©istock/getty Images Plus/Gargonia
Amber Ginter is the author who turned to teachers who love Jesus, her husband Ben and granola. Amber’s growth was searching for faith and mental health resources, but found nothing. Today, she not only read your Bible and prays more, but also offers hope to young Christians suffering from mental illness. Because you can love Jesus and still suffer from anxiety. Download her best faith and mental health resources for free and help you navigate books, podcasts, videos and influencers from a faith lens perspective. Visit her website at amberginter.com.
