If suffering from depression, it is common to be troubled by
persistent irrational fearful thoughts that come back time
and again until they become a mental obsession. When
these obsessive fears confront us, a mental battle of epic
proportions ensues as we examine, debate and work
through them in a vain attempt to find relief and release.
This process can take hours, days, or longer.
This is not surprising, as our mind is so exhausted
that it has lost the flexibility of a healthy mind, which
would have dismissed such irrational fears out of hand.
Try as we might, we cannot shake free of these
fears and in the end, we can no longer see them from any
other perspective. We lose the ability to differentiate
between what we fear, and what is real, and come to believe
that the fearful perspective is the only perspective.
I finally found the courage to share some of my
irrational fears with the Christian lady who was counselling
24
me, and she gently helped me to see such fearful thoughts
from another perspective – the true perspective.
At first, I could not feel the truth of a new
perspective, but I accepted it, and kept it in my mind. And
when those fears returned, instead of going through the
exhausting process of trying to work through them again, I
recalled the new perspective given me by my counsellor,
and accepted it and believed it. I then learned to live with
the fearful thoughts simmering away at the back of my
mind, without fearing or fighting them, while continually
reminding myself of the new perspective. And as I let time
pass, the new perspective, the truth, finally won out.
Sometimes we can embrace the new perspective
quickly, but if severely depressed, it can be some time
before the truth sinks in, and when it does, we receive relief
and freedom. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free." John 8:32
In the book “Self Help for your Nerves,” Dr
Weekes explains the importance of finding someone
suitable to help us find 'the other point of view.' “Let it be
your wisest and not just your nearest friend…If you have no
such friend, find a suitable minister, priest or doctor.” p68.
A Christian professional therapist/health care worker is of
course another possibility. The lady who counselled me had
experienced and overcome depression, and understood what
I was going through.
To help me with this process of learning to see and
embrace new perspectives, I wrote each new perspective on
the back of a business card or scrap of paper, which I kept
in my pocket or wallet. And when that fear reared its ugly
head again, I pulled out the card and read it.
As I continued to recover from depression, I was
able to work through such fears and find the new
perspective myself, with the assistance of prayer and God's
Word. In many of these cases, I continued to write the new
perspectives on flashcards. This saved me a lot of mental
anguish of trying to work through things again that I had
already worked through in the past.
Here is an example of finding a new perspective
regarding a very powerful fear. I had the misfortune of
having a car crash while recovering from depression. My
exhausted mind, already struggling with anxiety, was
swamped by fears that assured me I was going to have
heaps of car crashes, starting with the loan car, and then in
every car I got in for the next two weeks, regardless of
whose car it was. These fears were so fresh and powerful
that they felt real.
Remembering what I had learned, I sought the
new, correct perspective to have towards this irrational fear,
and this was:
1. These thoughts that say I am going to have lots of car
crashes are not real.
2. These thoughts are not what is going to happen, they are
only what I am afraid is going to happen.
3. Jesus said to let not my heart be troubled, but trust in
God and in Him. John 14:1
4. Therefore I will get in these cars and trust Him to keep
me safe. Psalm 18:2
And regarding the fears that I was going to suffer many car
crashes over those two weeks, this is what I wrote in my
diary afterwards: "Nothing happened."
persistent irrational fearful thoughts that come back time
and again until they become a mental obsession. When
these obsessive fears confront us, a mental battle of epic
proportions ensues as we examine, debate and work
through them in a vain attempt to find relief and release.
This process can take hours, days, or longer.
This is not surprising, as our mind is so exhausted
that it has lost the flexibility of a healthy mind, which
would have dismissed such irrational fears out of hand.
Try as we might, we cannot shake free of these
fears and in the end, we can no longer see them from any
other perspective. We lose the ability to differentiate
between what we fear, and what is real, and come to believe
that the fearful perspective is the only perspective.
I finally found the courage to share some of my
irrational fears with the Christian lady who was counselling
24
me, and she gently helped me to see such fearful thoughts
from another perspective – the true perspective.
At first, I could not feel the truth of a new
perspective, but I accepted it, and kept it in my mind. And
when those fears returned, instead of going through the
exhausting process of trying to work through them again, I
recalled the new perspective given me by my counsellor,
and accepted it and believed it. I then learned to live with
the fearful thoughts simmering away at the back of my
mind, without fearing or fighting them, while continually
reminding myself of the new perspective. And as I let time
pass, the new perspective, the truth, finally won out.
Sometimes we can embrace the new perspective
quickly, but if severely depressed, it can be some time
before the truth sinks in, and when it does, we receive relief
and freedom. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free." John 8:32
In the book “Self Help for your Nerves,” Dr
Weekes explains the importance of finding someone
suitable to help us find 'the other point of view.' “Let it be
your wisest and not just your nearest friend…If you have no
such friend, find a suitable minister, priest or doctor.” p68.
A Christian professional therapist/health care worker is of
course another possibility. The lady who counselled me had
experienced and overcome depression, and understood what
I was going through.
To help me with this process of learning to see and
embrace new perspectives, I wrote each new perspective on
the back of a business card or scrap of paper, which I kept
in my pocket or wallet. And when that fear reared its ugly
head again, I pulled out the card and read it.
As I continued to recover from depression, I was
able to work through such fears and find the new
perspective myself, with the assistance of prayer and God's
Word. In many of these cases, I continued to write the new
perspectives on flashcards. This saved me a lot of mental
anguish of trying to work through things again that I had
already worked through in the past.
Here is an example of finding a new perspective
regarding a very powerful fear. I had the misfortune of
having a car crash while recovering from depression. My
exhausted mind, already struggling with anxiety, was
swamped by fears that assured me I was going to have
heaps of car crashes, starting with the loan car, and then in
every car I got in for the next two weeks, regardless of
whose car it was. These fears were so fresh and powerful
that they felt real.
Remembering what I had learned, I sought the
new, correct perspective to have towards this irrational fear,
and this was:
1. These thoughts that say I am going to have lots of car
crashes are not real.
2. These thoughts are not what is going to happen, they are
only what I am afraid is going to happen.
3. Jesus said to let not my heart be troubled, but trust in
God and in Him. John 14:1
4. Therefore I will get in these cars and trust Him to keep
me safe. Psalm 18:2
And regarding the fears that I was going to suffer many car
crashes over those two weeks, this is what I wrote in my
diary afterwards: "Nothing happened."
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