Ashley Roberts is a junior Psychology
and Theology major at Trinity Christian College. She is currently a Resident Assistant for upperclassman in
Alumni Hall. She has just begun to
look at graduate schools; she hopes to study Psychology at graduate level to
eventually become a Licensed Clinical Professionals Counselor. Ashley has a huge heart for service and
hopes to love and serve God’s people for the rest of her life.
In
the Heart Cry Biblical Model of Depression (HCM), David P. Armentrout (2004) attempts
to persuade researchers that depression is a normal, God created response. According to Armentrout, depression is
a response that is spiritual function, as well as biological and
psychological. He assumes that
this response was originally intended by God to propel corrective action in a
way that furthers wisdom, sensitivity, resilience, and hope. However, as with all things in a fallen
world, the depressive response has been distorted and thus has devastating
effects. Armentrout (2004) introduces
this model with empirical data comparing those suffering with depression who
believe in God and those who do not.
In general, studies have found that religious involvement is positively
correlated with lower levels of depression and suicide. However, another study has shown that
depression levels are higher in religious youth that have lost a sibling than
those who are not religious. In
the same study, approximately twenty-four months after the loss, the
participants were re-interviewed.
Researchers found that those same religious youth had significantly
lower levels of depression, while nonreligious youth were still significantly
more depressed (Armentrout, 2004).
Armentrout thus concludes with the HCM, “that a Christ softened heart
may make an individual more susceptible to depressed feelings, the course of
recovery should be faster and less likely to multiply into destructive
depression” (p 41).
Armentrout
highlights that many symptoms of depression align with symptoms of spiritual
distress. He centralizes HCM
around 70 Hebrew words found in Scripture and the many references that describe
a spiritual loss. This spiritual
loss can be produced by physical or cognitive events that decrease one’s
awareness or God or an event that creates perceived separation from God such as
enmeshment in sin. Armentrout also
states an individual with a Christ softened heart may experience feelings of
depression when mourning with others.
In both schools of thought, the depressed response promotes the loving
of God and neighbor if delivered from such feelings. Normal feelings of depression can thus be seen as
motivational in some circumstances.
However, depressed feelings are maladaptive when they become persistent
and recurrent. Armentrout
recognizes here that there are some biological preconditions that might make
depression reoccur, especially if underlying neurochemical disturbances are
occurring during the depression.
Analyses show, once an individual is depressed he or she is vulnerable
to become depressed again.Depression is spiraling in nature. However, Armentrout does not want to
simply credit depression to biology.
He cites studies that indicate that pharmacology and cognitive therapy
may yield the same results in decreasing symptomology. He thus concluded that when depression
proceeds as God designed it, it will be resolved, self limiting, and usually have
some form of enlightenment.
However, when it does not follow design, whether due to chosen habits or
predisposed unconscious cognitions, depression will be processed on a
destructive and self-repeating path (Armentrout, 2004).
As
I consider my development in understanding depression, this article could prove
to be very formational. Depression
is so multifaceted and complex that it is hard to explain. Even harder to explain is that an
individual seems to truly feel the absence of God during such times. Conceptually, this is a lot easier to understand
if the Lord uses depression as a normal and adaptive response. This solidifies the fact that Lord
works in mysterious ways, and it all brings Him glory.
For
further research, I would be interested in two main questions. How should a clinician engage someone
who does not love the one true God?
If depression is a spiritual issue at its core, then a clinician’s goal
would be ultimately to share the gospel with their non-Christian clients. What would that actually look
like? How would Armentrout
proceed? I would also like him to
continue to flesh out the biological context of depression. Some individuals do seem to be clearly
predisposed to depression. In that
case, is it more of a biological issue than a spiritual one?
As one considers depression
and Christianity, the tensions are easily recognizable. How often has a clinically depressed
person been told they are not having enough faith in the Lord, or that he or
she just needs to “pray it out”? For whatever reason within the church,
depression is often associated with faithlessness. In the HCM, Armentrout combats this. A major strength of this model is that
he reframes how depression should be viewed. If depression is a response designed by God it allows for
more understanding and grace on behalf of the church. I would hope that it takes the cultural shame found within
the church out of depression. Another
strength I see in his article is that Armentrout does not use Scripture to
supplement his findings, but instead uses Scripture as the foundation of his
model. As a Christian psychologist,
integration is a long life-challenge; Armentrout successfully exemplifies
integration. This is something I
hope to strive for as I continue in the world of psychology.
References
Armentrout, D.P. (2004). The normal and
pathological genesis of depression: The “Heart Cry” biblical model of
depression revisited. Journal of Psychology
and Christianity, 23(1) 40-50.
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