(www.sass-pants.com) — It’s solidly the middle of the night here in Virginia and I am wide awake. Well, scratch that. When I’m vertical, I feel like I’m about to fall over from exhaustion. The moment I lie down, I feel like I could run a marathon.

Ever since my car accident, I’ve been having trouble sleeping. I just can’t get comfortable, or I wake up every hour or so for no apparent reason. I haven’t felt rested in a solid month. And tonight, I can’t stop thinking about poor Julius.

The normal things aren’t helping tonight: counting backwards from 100 in Spanish; trying to say the alphabet backwards; counting as high as I can without losing my place; trying to remember the lyrics to Disney songs in the order in which they appear in their respective movies; visualizing myself falling asleep from my toes to the top of my head; watching boring television. Nothing works.

What do you do when you can’t sleep?

Contents Copyright © Kristen King

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(www.sass-pants.com) — How’s this for offensive? “Jesus Is My Prozac”

I was test driving my husband’s new truck when I saw that absurd statement on a sign in front of a church in Fredericksburg, VA, and I nearly ran off the road I was so aghast that anyone could possibly be so ignorant as to suggest that depression can be cured by a healthy dose of religion.

Depression is a medical illness, not a figment of your imagination, and being “a good enough Christian” is not the cure. Are you suggesting that I suffer from depression because I’m a big fat sinner? Perhaps because I don’t believe in Jaaaaayyyyyyzus sufficiently for miraculous intervention in my brain chemistry? Gee, that makes me feel SO much better. Give me a break.

Of COURSE if you’re feeling lonely and disconnected, finding a home in a supportive community with shared values and goals, religious or otherwise, can help you feel more grounded. If you feel like you lack direction, identifying yourself as a child of God or a member of whatever church or however you choose to see it can certainly give you a sense of purpose or meaning. Belief in a higher power can also provide encouragement and reassurance. But that is NOT the same thing as curing depression. It’s not. It’s not, and I resent the implication that it is. You know, as if that weren’t clear.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health,

An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people.

Of the 57.7 million Americans suffering from a mental disorder, nearly 15 million suffer from depression according to 1999 NIMH statistics. No doubt the number has increased since then. And when I say depression, I’m not talking about feeling bummed. I’m talking about clinical depression, persistent and pervasive feelings of sadness, anxiety, emptiness, hopelessness, and guilt coupled with a lack of interest or pleasure in things you previous enjoyed, possible sleep disruption, possible panic disorder, possible loss of appetite, and all of the numerous other manifestations of depression. I’m talking about a disease.

Would you tell someone who’s allergic to bee stings and is going into anaphylactic shock that Jesus is her EpiPen? Or suggest to a diabetic whose blood glucose level is through the roof that Jesus is her insulin? Saying, “Jesus is my Prozac” is just as inappropriate, just as disrespectful, just as STUPID, and possibly even more damaging — because there’s nothing like telling a depressed person that their depression is their own fault because they lack faith to make them feel better at the end of the day.

Way to be supportive, Christendom. Good job.

You can learn more about causes, symptoms, and treatment of depression through the 25-page PDF Depression, published by NIMH or by reading NIMH’s brief depression fact sheet.

Contents Copyright © 2008 Kristen King
Image Copyright © 2006 Cracker&Boyo | Used With Permission