I am depressed and I don’t know how to get over it. I have no desire to go on. I don’t want to live anymore. I want to die. I’ve tried to commit suicide, but something always stops me. I feel that I have a miserable life.

Dear Friend,

We are very thankful to hear that you have been prevented from taking your own life. Have you considered the possibility that God might have intervened through circumstances to keep you from making a tragic mistake? Even though you are but one person among the billions on earth, your Heavenly Father cares about what you are going through.

We care about you too, and are sorry to hear about your illness. You do not mention that you have spoken to a medical doctor, so we urge you to do that immediately. Be sure to tell the doctor about your thoughts of harming yourself, and follow through with whatever the doctor advises you to do.

To understand more about depression, we suggest that you read Cases 31 and 475. Even though circumstances may originally provoke a certain feeling, that feeling becomes reality through a series of chemical reactions and electrical impulses in your brain. Those reactions and impulses change your brain gradually and can eventually become the cause of future feelings, or even the cause of an imbalance of brain chemicals. In addition, both genetics and life experiences can influence the brain chemicals and electrical impulses, making some people more susceptible to conditions like depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

To combat a chemical imbalance, medications are often needed. The medications help the brain restore normal chemical levels. They work in much the same way that vitamins work to make sure that our bodies have enough of those elements to keep us healthy.

Regardless of the chemical and electrical activity in your brain, changing your thoughts can actually help your brain. For example, if you use social media, we recommend that you close all of your accounts. Social media causes you to compare yourself with others, and in your state of mind, others will always seem to be better, have better, and do better than you. Comparison is your enemy.

We also encourage you to begin thinking of ways that you can help others. Do two things today that will help others. Those two things could be making a cup of coffee for someone in your household, or washing some dishes for them. Tomorrow, do three things for others. Write down the things that you do and keep a record. Make sure that each day you do one more thing for someone else. Please click on one of the buttons at the bottom of this page and tell us about some of the things you are doing for others, and about your visit to the doctor.

Finally, change your thoughts about God. Constantly remind yourself that He loves you and He is listening to you. Repeat over and over this truth that is found in His Word, the Bible: “God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.”(1)

We wish you the best,

Linda
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1 Ps 66:19