A Dirty Little Secret – Pastoral Depression
One of the greatest threats to those in church leadership is burn-out and depression. Although many pastors may fell alone in this area, you are not alone. In the September/October 2000 edition of Physician Magazine, Dr. Walt Larimore, vice president of medical outreach at Focus on the Family, along with Rev. Bill Peel reported, “surveys indicate that 80 percent of pastors and 84 percent of their spouses are discouraged or are dealing with depression. In addition, more than 40 percent of pastors and 47 percent of their spouses report that they are suffering from burnout.” In many cases, pastors don’t know or understand that they are depressed. They may think they have been burning out, but don’t understand the fine line between burnout and depression, a line that can be crossed unknowingly.
The nature of depression among pastors makes it difficult to identify. Often, those in ministry are depressed before they even realize it or are able to deal with it. Meanwhile, the shadows of depression haunt their lives and dismantle their ministries one day at a time. Even more difficult is the fact that once a pastor is diagnosed with depression, many churches are not safe places in which they may find support and healing.
Depression among pastors is still a dirty little secret that many churches don’t wish to disclose, address, and cure. This combination of late detection and church denial is lethal. E. Glenn Wagner speaking on pastoral depression says, “I believe that the church can curtail this epidemic, and I insist that it must if we’re to have any hope of healthy pastoral leadership in the future.”
Cliff Graves of the Fair Oaks Presbyterian Counseling Center in Fair Oaks, California says the array of depressive symptoms is varied. It can include persistent sad, anxious, or empty moods – feelings of hopelessness, pessimism – feelings of guilt worthlessness, helplessness – loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that you once enjoyed, insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping – appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain – decreased energy and drive, fatigue – morbid or suicidal thoughts or attempts – restlessness, irritability – unaccountable tearfulness or crying – difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions, persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment. Not everyone who is depressed experiences every symptom listed and the severity of the symptoms varies widely. Graves says if someone you know experiences at least three of these symptoms for more than two weeks, you have reason to suspect depression. If untreated, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. However, if properly addressed, it is very treatable.