Have you tried it? When feeling somewhat down, try sharing in a form of Kingdom service. Talking to others about God's Kingdom will often help you to change your frame of mind from negative to positive. Speaking about Jehovah and using his word can give you joy, a fruitage of his spirit, and make you feel different. A young pioneer also found that keeping busy in Kingdom work made her realize that in comparison with other people's problems, hers were very small and temporary. Does that sound unreasonable? Does it sound too simple?
Consider this: One psychologist put it this way, "Action is the single, most effective antidote to any catalyst of depression -- anxiety, stress, fear, worry, or guilt. It's virtually impossible to be depressed and active at the same time. Even if you wanted to, you would find it difficult to keep on moping, complaining, lulling around and wallowing in self-pity if you got active and did something. Lack of action is not the result of depression. It is the cause." Then he says that most people will respond by saying, "My problems are a lot deeper than that and just getting active won't change things around." To which he responds, "Yes, they will."
Pioneers are not immune to depression on any level. Those in full time service are, for the most part, the happiest people on earth. They are making other people happy. They are making Jehovah happy. Are you in position to enlarge your service to Jehovah?
Serving Jehovah actively has a way of shrinking our troubles down to a size where we can either eliminate them or live happily with them.
I hope nothing I've said (about anxiety and depression) implies that fighting these feelings should be an easy thing and that there's something wrong with us it we have serious fights with depression. It IS difficult.
Sometimes medical or dietary treatments are needed. I'm not going to touch that subject. Your Watchtower Index will lead you to articles that do.
Please remember Proverbs 15:15: All the days of the afflicted one are bad but he who is good at heart has a feast constantly.
And if we're plagued with thoughts of depression, let's ask ourselves, "If I can't change or improve my situation, what mental viewpoint can I adopt so as to be as reasonably happy as possible under the circumstances?"
And then as the Proverb says, "We'll have a feast constantly." Even when things go wrong. Because we will have made our happiness dependent on scriptural thinking, not external circumstances. Not things going right all the time.
And remember that in the New Order, although that is just a promise, it will soon be a reality, and gradually, as we grow to perfection, all anxiety will be eliminated. It will no longer be a fight to avoid guilt, worry, feelings of worthlessness, inferiority. And yet sometimes the New Order itself becomes for some of us an object of anxiety because we worry that we won't make it. Sometimes it seems like we can't make it. We have trouble, sickness, imperfection, opposition. We have all the problems common to imperfect men and women. At times all of these anxieties cross our path at once, and having doubts about making it into Jehovah's new order, we may even start to savor the pleasure of this system of things, not wanting to miss out altogether. From a human standpoint, we'd be right; we can't make it. We get the feeling that it's impossible. That's because it is if it were not for one external factor -- Jehovah's help.
Here's the point: When Jesus disciples felt that it would be impossible to gain eternal life, Jesus told them, "With humans it IS impossible." See, that's why we feel the way we do. But then he said, "With God, all things ARE possible."
Now we often quote those words (all things are possible with God). Did you know that when Jesus said that, he was speaking in the context of our ability to gain the reward? In other words, no one is so spiritually handicapped or crippled or disadvantaged in some way that, with Jehovah's help, he can't make it into the new system, he can't qualify for eternal life. We can make it! We will make it with Jehovah's help.
So have NO ANXIETY. By prayer and supplication, make your petitions known to God. Keep your minds fixed on things that are healthy and upbuilding. Practice what is good to the best of your ability and may the "God of peace" be with you.