What Does Depression Mean for My Faith?

by Kathryn Butler

Biblical Hope for Those Who Suffer from Clinical Depression Studies show that everyone will encounter someone who struggles with clinical depression at some point in their lifetime. Its debilitating, pervasive joylessness is crippling. Depression can affect your body and brain, numb your emotions, and put strain on your relationships. For Christians, it can even inhibit them from delighting in the greatest gift ever known―the good news of the gospel. What should Christians think about clinical depression? How can church leaders respond lovingly to those who face this dark, unsettling, and sometimes baffling dilemma? In  What Does Depression Mean for My Faith?  author and physician Kathryn Butler addresses common misconceptions about mental illness in the church. She offers grace, relief, and practical help to Christians who feel shame, and she equips church leaders with the tools they need to extend Christ’s love to the vulnerable.  

Genres: Christian, Psychology

80 pages, Paperback

Published May 21, 2024

About the author

Kathryn Butler (MD, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons) is a trauma surgeon turned author and homeschooling mom. Her books Between Life and Death: A Gospel-Centered Guide on End-of-Life Medical Care, and Glimmers of Grace: A Doctor's Reflections on Faith, Suffering, and the Goodness of God, reflect upon faith and medicine. She is also the author of The Dream Keeper Saga, a middle grade adventure series with Christian themes. She lives in the woods of Massachusetts, where she loves to read stories with her kids, explore the outdoors, and chase dragons from her kitchen.

Reviews

[Rainer Erani · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have to love a book that effectively provides what it advertises. What Does Depression Mean for My Faith? sets out to (1) comfort those who suffer and (2) equip those who care, and it accomplishes both tasks potently. Kathryn Butler is the perfect writer for this topic. She personally understands what depression feels like. She is well-read and well-informed on the topic. She is comprehensive and integrative in her redemptive approach by prescribing multiple avenues for holistic healing.

This book pairs well with Spurgeon's Sorrows: Realistic Hope for Those who Suffer from Depression by Zach Eswine and Depression: The Way Up When You Are Down by Ed Welch. They’re each brief, providing in part what most people need to see more fully.

Overall Recommendation: This is well worth the hour it takes to read. If you value relationships and people, you will at some point cross paths with someone suffering from depression, whether you know it or not. Butler’s introduction to the topic will help you bring about peace, hope, and understanding instead of further pain, hurt, and suffering when you do. 5 stars.

Additional Thought: Butler incorporates a bit of anecdotal evidence, but I feel like because of the isolating nature of the topic she could have benefited from adding a bit more on her own experience with depression to help connect with her reader.

[Dr. David Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depression is an ongoing challenge for many people. The solutions range far and wide. Dr. Kathryn Butler cuts through the fog of confusion and uncertainty and offers real hope in her book, What Does Depression Mean for My Faith?

The most striking thing about his little book is its transparency. The author faces the problem of depression head-on. She refuses to “sugar-coat” this vexing issue. She wisely distinguishes between ordinary sorrow and clinical depression. Admitting the pain of depression, she acknowledges, “In such bleak times, sufferers of depression need Christian love and the truth of the gospel more than ever.”

The author focuses her attention on the causes and characteristics of depression. She suggests various forms of treatment but never minimizes the ultimate hope that is found in the power of the gospel.

Theological matters are dealt with minimally here, so thoughtful readers should find more help from authors such as Ed Welch and Martyn-Lloyd Jones.

Dr. Butler’s book is an excellent starting point for someone who seeks help for depression or a caregiver/counselor who needs tools to provide help for a counselee. However, as noted above, additional resources will be needed for maximum impact.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.

[emma jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinct, practical, and helpful

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

This booklet answers common questions about depression, explaining some of the known causes and more mysterious elements of this mental struggle. The author describes common treatments and ways that people can pursue help, and also writes about the role of the church in encouraging and supporting sufferers. She also shares insights from her own experience with depression, reflects on the importance of reducing stigma in the church, and emphasizes that because everyone's experience of depression is unique, it is important to listen to them instead of making assumptions and giving unsolicited advice.

This booklet is extremely short. The main text is just forty-four pages long, with notes and suggested resources in the back. Although many people would prefer a longer and more in-depth resource, this booklet's brevity will appeal to people who are new to learning about depression, and who don't have the time or energy to read something longer. This can be helpful for sufferers and their support systems, and it would be a great selection for church bookstores and lending libraries.

I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to evaluate, because it addresses an important topic, and has a great middle section on a biblical view of suffering. But, in my judgment, the opening and conclusion drastically vitiate those strengths. Butler writes as an MD, and makes no attempt whatsoever to engage the biblical-counseling vs. integrationist movement. She instead seems to concede from the outset that depression is fundamentally a biological concept that should be addressed by a doctor. While there is some nuance to the discussion of medication, it is very thin. A doctor or counselor is the first recommended resource, and only then does the book turn to discussions of suffering and Scripture. This is a remarkably flattened vision of what depression even is, and I fear simply assumes and further baptizes the biological based vision of this human struggle that so many in our culture have adopted unquestioned.

[Ched Spellman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful and informative (and only 44 pp!). Balanced approach that affirms the reality and complexity of depression, encourages medication as only one component of any treatment plan for depression (and related mental health issues), and has a high view of the importance of Biblical wisdom and teaching. If you are in ministry of any kind, you will need to be ready to discern and care for those in the grips of depression (and this will sometimes include yourself!). This direct & reflective booklet is a nice entryway into thinking about this area of personal experience and pastoral counsel.

[Tim Franks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful, but brief look at the topic of helping someone struggling with depression as a believer in Jesus. Hard to cover enough of this topic in about 5o pages, but it is a good starting point.

[Jonathan Prudhomme · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very brief and helpful book on depression from the perspective of a Christian physician. I found it faithful to the complexities of the causes of depression and also helpful in its remedies.

[Morgan Toensing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very quick little read. Lots of truth and good reminders.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful short book speaking to both those struggling and those supporting those struggling with depression.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful little booklet!

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tiny book felt like a warm hug and a nice cup of tea (or coffee) during dark times.

[Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short overview of the debiliating problem of depression. Offers some grace and help

[nate]

Helpful for both those suffering and those walking with the suffering.