John Watkins speaks to Paul Ritchie about his new book
You have struggled with depression for some years. What prompted you to write this book now?
There was the encouragement of friends, who found what I wrote on my blog about mental health to be helpful. The timing was somewhat impulsive. I had come out of a time of depression and just started writing. So, there may have been a sense of working through what I had experienced.
We hear a lot in the secular media about ‘mental health’, often linked to ‘well-being’. Is this part of a cult of self-worship which leaves God out of the picture?
I think that there are significant differences between the way the world and the gospel view mental health, particularly in regard to issues like guilt and self-esteem. I have included a chapter on showing how the gospel of grace is good news for our mental health struggles. It is wonderful to realise that we don’t have to justify ourselves and that we are loved by a heavenly Father who does not treat us as our sins deserve.
What do you say to those who would regard depression and mental illness as a purely spiritual problem to be dealt with by prayer, healing ministry or even exorcism?
When I was first diagnosed with OCD. I avoided certain Christians I knew whom I thought would be spiritually heavy-handed. We should be praying for those with mental health conditions, but this is an illness like other illnesses. When we pray responsibly with those who are ill we ask God for His healing, but we also know that it may be His will to be with them as they travel through this illness.
You say, ‘try to keep your faith simple when your brain is exhausted’. How do we do that?
I think that there is some wisdom in that. When I was very depressed, I struggled with some hard thoughts about God. I think it can be helpful to put these on the shelf when we are depressed. Someone explained that putting such issues on the shelf is different from sweeping them under the carpet. Putting them on the shelf says, ‘I won’t ignore this difficult issue, but I will put it away until a more appropriate time to examine it.’ Also, remember that Jesus is gentle and lowly of heart. He understands when we are depressed, we find it hard to pray or feel our love for Him.
In sharing our struggles with others are there different levels of openness depending on whom we are sharing with?
I really encourage people to be open about their mental health struggles. Generally, you will find that people in the church will respond with a good degree of compassion. However, there will be people who respond carelessly and insensitively. I don’t want to hide my struggles from anyone, but I don’t expect that everyone will respond with sensitivity.
Suicide is wrong but can it be regarded in some cases as the end of a terminal (mental) illness?
I have a chapter on suicide. It originated after attending the funeral of a friend’s son. As I wrote this chapter, I felt it was important to plead with those who are considering this course of action. I was desperate for them to realise that suicide is never the right course of action. God never gives us permission to take our lives. Rick Warren lost his son to suicide. He explains that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. When I was in my deepest depression I wondered if it would ever lift. It did, and it does. Those who are in the very depths of depression need to be walked with at that time and assured that this too will pass.
What is your prayer for the book?
This book is not just for those who are clinically depressed or anxious but all who struggle with a low mood. I pray that they would realise that their low mood does not make them less of a Christian. I pray that they would find comfort. I also want to help the church relate well to those who are struggling with their mental health. Finally, I wrote this book with my non-Christian friends in my mind. I pray that this book would be one that shows the beauty and grace of our heavenly Father.
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