Clinical depression

Dear Editor,

Thank you to the two brave people who shared their experiences of clinical depression. One can easily hear how the experience of depression was accompanied by a sense of loneliness and isolation from the One who never leaves us. I long for the day when people do not experience either stigma within the church or shame from the self for experiencing psychological distress or mental illness. 

As a counsellor who is a Christian, I want to remind readers that a wise and empathic counsellor can be one string in the bow of healing from psychological distress alongside appropriately prescribed and monitored medication and sensitive pastoral support. Counsellors and psychotherapists can be accessed through various directories including the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and Association of Christians in Counselling and Associated Professions (ACC).