We begin with the bad news. Rich countries like Australia are suffering from an epidemic of depression, which seems to get worse with each new generation. The good news is that there is more help available than ever before and that many of the causes are known and can be combated.
We are not just talking about life's normal highs and lows. Because without doubt we can be too ready to pop pills in the low points of these normal cycles.
What is on the increase are major bouts of depression, what Winston Churchill called his "black dog." One Australian adult in five will probably experience such an attack at some stage, and about three-quarters of a million Australians are seriously depressed each year.
There are some interesting quirks in the statistics, at least in the United States where the poor blacks and Hispanics have less depression than whites and where the Amish people follow an eighteenth century way of life and have only one-tenth the rate of depression of the nearby population of Philadelphia.
Professor Martin Seligman an expert psychologist from the United States lists four main causes for the crisis.
First in his list is the rise of individualism, where people are encouraged to be self-centered, too much focused on their personal ambitions, rather than dedicated principally to the good of God, or family or some important cause.
For him the second-source is the rise of the Californian self-esteem movement, where youngsters are tricked into feeling good about themselves rather than being taught the skills necessary for making their way in a rough world.
Next is the rise of "victimology", where everyone is encouraged to blame his problems on someone else; on parents, governments or "the system." So healthy concepts of self-responsibility are weakened.
Lastly he blames the cult of instant pleasure, where we want all our prizes now and without effort. This search for immediate self-gratification is seen at its most extreme in drug abuse, which heightens the appetite and deepens the sense of emptiness and worthlessness. An insistent search for short cuts means that we never have a sense of achievement, never learn the meaning and consolation of hard work and our vices strangle many of our virtues. Depression follows like night after day.
All the great religions, and especially Christianity combat depression, give persons a sense of purpose, help cope with pain and suffering (which are inevitable) and provide standards of right and wrong, which warn of the dangers from excesses.
If there is no sin, guilt is displaced and forgiveness impossible. True religion explains our duties and responsibilities, rejects escapism and tells us that every addiction brings us to prisons of our own making, whether they be from drugs, alcohol, promiscuity or pornography.
Genuine religion can be part of an antidote to depression.
