Depression or Spiritual Warfare?
Exorcist Father Dan Reehil said in an interview on Pints with Aquinas. “What we feel in this world isn't always us.”
Depression is clinical. It's a chemical imbalance in your brain. It's not always just living in the past or holding onto an old pain. Sometimes it can be brought on by hormones or a change in circumstances. Some days you simply wake up with an unexplainable sadness. When you're in that state, you're vulnerable. The enemy will strike at a time like this, and then it becomes something entirely different. You'll start to have subliminal thoughts: “you're not good at this,” “You can't do anything,” “there's no point.”
The thoughts will block you from reaching out to loved ones:
“Don't text them, you don't have it that bad. Everyone has problems, and your life is great. Why would you complain to them? They don't care about your dramatic feelings.”
“Your mom? No, no, don't burden your mom with this stuff. She doesn't need to worry about you; it's not that serious. She has other things on her plate.”
“That friend? You're going to reach out to her? She doesn't care about you! When was the last time she reached out to you?”
Before long, you've started and deleted multiple calls for help. You are left feeling more alone than ever, and now unloved too. This is spiritual warfare.
Recognizing the voice
Recognizing the enemy’s voice in your head will change everything! The thoughts that once rolled through your head unnoticed, subconsciously being accepted as truth, now have a giant spot light fixed on them. I will never forget the first time I heard in my head at the start of a good thing, “you’ll never stick to this.” It was so subtle but so familiar. I’m sure I’ve heard that thought a thousand times before, but this time it stood out. This time, instead of accepting the thought as truth, I rejected the thought. The next time you have thoughts like these in your head, ask yourself:
Is this thought stopping a genuinely good thing?
Is this thought separating me from God?
Is this thought trying to separate me from others?
Is this thought attacking my worth?
Is this thought stirring up fear or despair?
Is this thought leading me to sin?
If the answer is yes to any of these, the thought is not from God.
Now what?
In order to know what isn't from God, it is essential to have an understanding of who God is.
Immerse yourself in God’s word. By this, I do not just mean reading a “scripture of the day” one-liner. These are nice, but won't easily give you an idea of who He is. Read and understand scripture. I recommend the Bible in a Year podcast with Father Mike Schmitz to begin. I have also found the Daily Gospel Exegesis podcast to be incredibly informative and helps shape our understanding of Jesus and the scriptures logically.
“Pray constantly” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). There are times when this is easy and times when it is not. When you are busy or kept happy with earthly joys, you might be tempted or lulled into forgetting your prayer life. In moments of depression, as mentioned earlier, the enemy will seek to pull you away from your prayer life. He will try to discourage you and convince you that your prayers do not make a difference. We learn from those who’ve gone before us, and St. Ignatius of Loyola has left us with his wisdom in this area. He calls these moments when the enemy is trying to derail you from your faith life, being in a state of desolation. In his rules for “Discernment of Spirits,” he strongly encourages anyone in a state of desolation to continue their same prayer life and not make any major life changes.
Cast out the spirit. Once you’ve recognized thought as something not from God, you can reject the thought. Father Dan Reehil explains if we know Jesus and are in a state of grace with him, we “have the power to [cast spirits out] over your own person.” He encourages anyone feeling these negative feelings to say, “In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bind all spirits of [depression] and I cast you at the feet of Jesus for him to dispose of you. Go immediately and directly in Jesus' name and never return.”
Fr. Dan reminds us that the enemy is “the ultimate influencer,” but you have an intellect and the free will to choose not to go along with his tricks. Whether your depression is clinical, spiritual, or both, God is so close to you. God is constantly reaching out a hand to offer refuge, but how often do we turn to earthly things for refuge? St. Thomas Aquinas said, “Man cannot live without joy; therefore, when he is deprived of true spiritual joys, it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures.” Turn to God in your moments of desperation, in the depths of your depression, He will not abandon you.
To learn more about what I've talked about, consider these resources:
The interview with Father Dan Reehil https://youtu.be/tE8Fi2EZoTY?si=_sbRMXGUwxp8HeaD
Discernment of Spirits https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/making-good-decisions/discernment-of-spirits/
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis: If you have not heard of this book, it is a must-read. C. S. Lewis writes a fictional dialogue between evil spirits, revealing the ways they attempt to pull souls away from God. Although it is fictional, reading this book will illuminate many of the enemy's tricks in your own life.
