Pastors are ordinary people. They are not superhuman.
In a quick, recent, online survey of 22 pastors run from Pastors’ Academy, only four said they had never suffered from any kind of depression. Seventeen said they had felt depressed in the last year – I’m sure lockdown had a part to play in that. Six said that they were seeing a doctor and taking medication.
This accords with the findings of the mental-health charity MIND. They say that in England one in four people experience some kind of mental-health problem each year. The most frequent type has to do with depression and anxiety. The symptoms include persistent sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, disturbed sleep, decreased appetite, constant fatigue, poor concentration and indecisiveness, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts. Any five of these eight adds up to mild depression.
How big is too big?
During the depths of lockdown I was out walking having a pastoral conversation when we bumped into someone who went …