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THE FAX OF LIFE

A Weekly Service To The Business Community From SVCC

DEPRESSION IN THE WORKPLACE
By Rick Warren

According to Dr. Bertram Brown, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, depression is our nation's most costly emotional illness. The cost to taxpayers is over $5,000,000,000 (billion) a year in medical expenses. The cost to businesses - in lowered productivity, reduced morale, and lost jobs - is many times greater. Studies have discovered that nearly 80% of Americans will struggle with some form of depression on an annual basis.

It's not a new problem. Here's a Bible trivia quiz: Can you name any of three men who became so depressed that each of them asked God to take his life? Answer: Moses, Elijah, and Jonah. Each of these guys got depressed, but for different reasons.

Depression is always a symptom of a deeper problem.

Like a warning light on your car, it gets your attention and shouts SOMETHING IS WRONG! The real problem is not how you feel, but the cause of those feelings. Here are three of the most common causes of depression:

  1. FATIGUE! (Moses' problem) When you try to maintain a hectic pace week after week in spite of physical and emotional exhaustion, you set yourself up for depression. Or if you try to play God, attempting to control everything and everyone around you, depression will eventually catch up with you. In Moses's case, the antidote was to learn to delegate. (Numbers 11:10-17)

  2. FEAR! (Elijah's problem) Whenever you swallow your anxieties, your body keeps score. Instead of focusing on your depression ask, "What is it that I'm afraid of? What's got me worried?" Resolve the worry and your blues will vanish if that's the cause. In Elijah's situation, the antidote was to trust God to handle things out of his control. (1 Kings 19:1-18)

  3. FRUSTRATION! (Jonah's problem) When you don't see a purpose behind the events of your life... when it all seems so arbitrary or hopeless or unfair ... depression strikes.
Life without meaning and significance IS depressing. That's why God's solution to Jonah's depression was to help him see the bigger picture. Perspective is a powerful cure. When Jonah finally understood God's Purpose for his life - his depression faded.

Does life sometimes seem like an endless rat-race to you? Ask God to open your eyes and help you see His purpose for your life. God, who made you, has this to say about you:

"I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (LB)

Until next week...
FOL#69

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