While it can be tempting to view your teen’s depression as pouting, or simply the result of hormone fluctuations, the truth is that your child’s despondency is an outward expression of internal unrest.
It can be tempting to grow impatient with your teen’s emotional instability. Oftentimes, in frustration, parents may resort to trite slogans and superficial encouragements. Even so, a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality is desperately insufficient to help our teens. In fact, any strategy that invites us to rely upon our own willpower for change is a limited resource at best, and painfully destructive at worst, “for not by might shall a man prevail” (1 Samuel 2:9).
It’s important to view depression through a biblical lens. When the Scriptures inform how you think about depression, your posture toward your teen can become more humble, gracious, and compassionate. Let’s take a look at some core statements that offer a biblical framework for moving forward in your care.
Depression Is Not Abnormal
Understand that your teen’s depression, though possibly severe, is not an abnormal human experience. It’s ultimately the result of living in a fallen world that is broken by sin, death, mourning, crying, and pain (Revelation 21:4).
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