How to deal with sadness and despondency. h) Constant work, handicraft, persistent feasible spiritual work. Esoteric causes of Dejection

Hello, Elena and Valentin. Since your questions relate to the same subject, let me answer them in one article.
Depression, as psychiatry calls it, is a disease of the soul that affects humanity as it falls away from God. However, modern psychiatric science has not even reached two centuries in its history. Meanwhile, since ancient times, the function of caring for the mentally ill has been performed by the Church. In patristic literature the term “despondency” is used to refer to this disease.
Recently I had to read an article by one apparently unchurched person who wrote indignantly, saying, “How is it possible that such a terrible disease is possible, and the Church calls it sin?” To resolve this bewilderment, let us recall that in the tradition of the Eastern Church, the consequence of any strongly rooted sin is illness (passion), therefore we are not at all mistaken in calling it sin.
According to the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, despondency is the loss of that spiritual joy in God, which is nourished by the hope of His merciful providence for us.
A saddened monk (and every person - I.S.) does not know spiritual pleasure. (Venerable Neil of Sinai). This is a painful condition in which the love of prayer is taken away from people who are engaged in saving their souls, a melancholy mood penetrates the soul, becoming permanent over time, a feeling of loneliness, abandonment by family, loved ones, all people in general, and even God comes. Sometimes this mental illness is expressed in anger and irritability.
The Holy Fathers, listing eight destructive passions leading to spiritual death in order of their increasing danger, gave despondency sixth place. The beginning of despondency is lack of faith. If it takes possession of a person, then faith in God, hope in Him and love for Him gradually fades away, and the person falls into despair. Dejection is a type of severe spiritual illness. Sadness and sorrow, if they are not rooted in a person, are not a disease. They are inevitable on our earthly path. “In the world you will have tribulation; but take heart: I have overcome the world,” says the Lord to his disciples (John 16:33).
Why is this state - “the sad sleep of the soul” - considered sinful? Because, the Holy Fathers say, despondency is often a consequence of a forgotten fall or a hidden, imperceptible other passion: envy, lust for fornication, ambition, love of money, desire for revenge on the offender. The cause of despondency can also be overwork from oppressive worries. Often despondency comes from excessive and self-inflicted deeds among especially zealous Christians.
To get rid of this sinful illness, the Church offers us, first of all, repentance, prayer and other deeds in fulfilling the Gospel commandments. The Monk Elijah Ekdik exhorts us: “Do not lose heart, looking at the difficulty of your mental illness; but using the most effective medicines against her through difficult feats, remove yourself from her if you sincerely care about the health of your soul.” St. Neil of Sinai speaks about the same thing: “In every task, determine your measure and do not leave it before you finish; Also, pray intelligently and intensely, and the spirit of despondency will flee from you.”
A Christian who has become impoverished in prayer and given over to despondency must first of all try to find the cause of the passion that oppresses him, the sinful desire that was its cause, and enter into a struggle with it. And even before that, say St. Fathers, with whatever he strikes this sinful desire, the spirit of prayer, even purely fervent, will return to him for the sheer determination to overcome the evil within himself.
There is despondency due to earthly reasons - surging troubles and sorrows beyond our control. But there is also despondency from disbelief in God’s Providence, disobedience to it, anger, and grumbling. We must be afraid of such a state and ask God for forgiveness and help, and then the spirit of despondency will leave us, and in sorrow the consolation of God will certainly come and be accepted by the soul, surpassing all earthly consolations.

Any person during his life at least once was in a state of despondency, melancholy, in a bad mood or depression. But it happens that such a condition develops into a serious problem. A prayer against despondency will help you cope with it. It can not only improve your mood, but also cure even a protracted illness.

The power of prayer in times of sadness

In Orthodoxy, depression and despondency are equated with mortal sins. Therefore, it is important to quickly deal with a bad mood, otherwise it can develop into something more serious. For example, a serious illness may develop. Depressed people are often prone to making rash decisions. Some even commit suicide in this state.

Melancholy, despondency and bad mood appear due to the lack of positive changes, fun moments and variety in life. This is due to the lifestyle of most people, who spend almost all their time at work. Moreover, even on weekends, they rarely engage in active recreation, preferring the sofa and TV.

Prayer is designed to help fight the routine and dullness of life. Visiting church and reading prayer texts help a person:

• tune into a calm mood;
• pacify your fears and concerns;
• find peace of mind;
• overcome despair;
• alleviate longing for a deceased relative;
• find the strength to fight and overcome all the obstacles encountered on the path of life.

Pronunciation of sacred texts allows you to receive the help and protection of saints. Thanks to the prayer service, people drive away sinful and evil thoughts, and are also distracted from the everyday bustle, finding salvation in the Lord God.

Prayer is considered more effective than drugs. Pills can only temporarily relieve melancholy. They remove the symptoms, but not the cause of the bad mood. The prayer service influences a person’s soul, healing his mental suffering and pacifying his emotions.

Turning to many saints also removes illness. Very often, prolonged depression leads to a significant deterioration in a person’s well-being. Dejection can cause a serious illness, which without spiritual and medicinal treatment may well end in death.

One of the manifestations of melancholy and depression are various mental disorders. The best medicine for eliminating such violations is turning to the saints. Prayer is especially useful for people who have suicidal tendencies.

A prayer service can normalize a person’s state of mind, restore him to cheerfulness, and also give him peace and tranquility. Since the reasons for the appearance of a bad mood are varied, different petitions are read to overcome a difficult stage of life. Various saints can provide help and support, as well as protect from harmful influences and sinful thoughts. But the strength of the read request will be different in each case.

The choice of prayer largely depends on the reason that provoked depression or despondency. To raise your spirit and improve your emotional state, prayer requests are read in front of the following images:

• Holy Great Martyr Barbara;
• Saint Tikhon;
• Righteous John of Kronstadt;
• Rev. Ephraim;
• Nikolai Ugodnik;
• Martyr Tryphon;
• The Mother of God in front of the icon of “Unexpected Joy”.

The prayer to the Virgin Mary is considered the most powerful. Appealing to other saints is also effective, but in certain life situations. Before prayer, you can light a candle near the image. Its flame will already have a pacifying effect.

To receive help, you need to sincerely believe and conduct a prayer service with all your heart.

Video “How to get rid of despondency?”

In this video, the archimandrite will tell you what to do if a person is overcome by despondency, depression, and how to get out of this state.

What texts to read

From laziness and despondency

Lord Jesus Christ, hearken to Thy servant, who suffers for Thy name, and grant Thy grace; let the sick, where they honor my memory, be miraculously healed for the glory of Thy name.

In the earthly vale we are tormented by many sorrows, cramped by troubles, confused by a storm of temptations and temptations, depressed by various illnesses, we weaken in spirit and fall into despondency and short days our lives and inaction we spend. without having any acquisition behind us, since we have no good deeds with the help of which we could be justified in a future life and receive eternal bliss.

Therefore, we beg you, holy martyr Alexander, help us throw off the burden of negligence and laziness, so that we can cheerfully begin the deeds of hard work and remain firm in striving and doing spiritual things in order to gain salvation for you.

And for the sick, hear our prayer, Saint Alexander, and heal us, suffering from physical and mental ailments, by appearing to help us, because before your death you prayed for those who would honor your memory, so that they would be delivered from all diseases.

So, show concern for us who honor your memory and save us from illness and heal the weak who call on you, so that the name of God may be glorified by all at all times. Amen.

For depression

O all-praised saint and saint of Christ, our Father Tikhon! Having lived like an angel on earth, you, like a good angel, appeared in your wondrous glorification.

We believe with all our souls and thoughts that you, our merciful helper and prayer book, with your honest intercessions and grace, abundantly bestowed on you from the Lord, are constantly contributing to our salvation.

Accept therefore, blessed servant of Christ, even at this hour our unworthy prayer: free us through your intercession from the vanity and superstition that surrounds us, the unbelief and evil of man.

Strive, quick intercessor for us, to beg the Lord with your favorable intercession, may He add His great and rich mercy to us sinners and unworthy His servants, may He heal with His grace the incurable ulcers and scabs of our corrupted souls and bodies, may He dissolve our petrified hearts with tears of tenderness and contrition for our many sins, and may He deliver us from eternal torment and the fire of Gehenna: and may He grant to all His faithful people in this present world peace and silence, health and salvation, and good haste in everything, and such a quiet and silent life lived in every piety and purity, vouchsafe me with the angels and with all the saints to glorify and sing the All-Holy Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

From constant melancholy

Living in the help of the highest, in the shelter of the heavenly God, the Lord will say: You are my intercessor and my refuge, my God and I trust in Him. For He will deliver you from the snare of the trap and from the words of the Rebellious, His blanket will overshadow you, And under His wing you trust, His Truth will bypass you as an instrument. Do not be afraid from the fear of the night, from the arrow flying during the day, from the thing that comes in the darkness, from the cloak and the midday demon.

Thousands and thousands will fall from your country at your right hand, but they will not come close to you. Behold Your eyes and see the reward of sinners. For You, O Lord, are my hope, You have made the Most High your refuge. No evil will come to you, and no wound will come near your body. As His Angel commanded you, keep you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their arms, and once they dash your foot on a stone, you will step on and cross an asp and a basilisk, a lion and a serpent. For he has trusted in Me, and I will deliver him, and I will cover him, and because he has known My name, he will bring him to Me, and I will hear him, I am with him in sorrow, I will destroy him and glorify him, I will fill him with long days, and I will show him My salvation.

Dejection is a mortal sin, which is the seventh mortal sin in Christian teaching. Before talking about how to deal with this vice, it is worth understanding what the sin of despondency is.

In Roman Catholicism there is only the sin of sadness. In the Orthodox canon, the division into the mortal sin of despondency and sadness is accepted.

Dejection is characterized as a depressed, depressed state of mind. A person who has fallen into despondency loses the desire for any type of work and activity: physical, mental, spiritual and moral. Christian church describes despondency as a state of spiritual crisis in a person.

Below are the main properties of the sin of despondency:

1. Laziness, idleness, unwillingness to do work. A person who is depressed loses all interest in his activities. Dejection makes a person apathetic towards responsibilities and work, forcing him to concentrate all his attention on his grief. It is worth noting that very often a person who suffers from despondency cannot explain the reasons for this phenomenon in any way.
2. “Cooling” to spiritual life. A depressed person spends less time resolving moral issues. He attends church and receives communion less often, and reads spiritual literature less.
3. Poor health. The mental and physical are closely connected in a person, and the “illness” of the soul can lead to physical illness. Someone who has become despondent experiences disturbed sleep, loss of appetite, increased fatigue and decreased energy.

It would seem that a person who has fallen into despondency does not do anything negative towards his neighbors. He does not offend anyone, does not lie, does not steal, does not kill, but nevertheless, despondency is ranked among mortal sins. It is recognized as a mortal sin for the following reasons:

• can cause a person to fall into despair, and despair can lead to suicide, which is the most serious sin in Christianity;
• takes a person away from God and moral self-improvement, forcing him to focus only on his own grief;
• deprives a person of the will to do his work, which leads him to laziness, inaction, and abandonment of his duty.

It is difficult for a person to resist despondency. It deprives him of vitality and the will to act. It can sometimes be difficult to fight despondency, but it is necessary for the spiritual cleansing of a person.

The Christian Church identifies various causes of despondency: a test sent by the Lord for spiritual purification, wounded pride, vanity, a person’s loss of faith, atheism, insufficient participation in spiritual life. An incorrect lifestyle and unwillingness to follow the moral law lead people to a spiritual crisis, a way out of which can be difficult to find.

Dejection can lead to a vicious circle: a person is in a state of despondency and has no desire to do anything; from his idleness he becomes more and more despondent, which makes him work less and less, which leads to even greater despondency.

The clergy say that melancholy is natural for a person. The suffering of the soul helps to cultivate moral virtues in him. Overcoming despondency, a person improves himself spiritually and draws closer to God. Dejection can be a test sent to a person from God that must be overcome.

How to deal with the mortal sin of despondency?

The Orthodox Church identifies the following ways to combat despondency:

1. The best method of counteracting despondency is feasible activity. Work and fulfilling one’s duties help a person get out of a depressed state.
2. Do not lose strength of spirit and do not succumb to sin.
3. Pray hard, .
4. Read spiritual literature, think about eternal moral issues.
5. Attend temple and church services. Participate in church sacraments.

Despair is a painful mortal sin that a person must fight in order to improve morally, draw closer to God, perform his work and duties, and lead a lifestyle appropriate to a true Christian.

Statistics show that in winter people most often become despondent, apathetic and depressed. Loses joy in life, thinks about bad things. How get rid of despondency and easily transition from winter to spring?

It is known that everything has its time. So there is a time to be cleansed, and there is a time to be filled. Autumn and winter are a time of cleansing. And spring and summer are the time of filling.

That is why in winter we often feel sad and want the sun, but in spring and summer it is so easy and joyful for us to live.

Winter is the period when the goddess Mara reigns, who sends us many mental tests, spiritual and physical. Having worthily passed all the tests of the winter goddess, a person is purified.

Cleansing and renewing is like peeling off old skin. Remember how they talked about this in fairy tales? First you need to go through certain obstacles, take the necessary actions, and then you will be happy.

And Ivan Tsarevich went through his trials in order to find his beloved, and the Frog Princess baked, sewed and danced in order to find her feminine happiness.

Therefore, if a person has not started cleansing in time in the fall, then in the winter “illness,” that is, the blues, will certainly cover him headlong.

If a person has worked well mentally, has let go of all worries and grudges, has built his tasks and goals for the next year, then a moment of happiness comes in his life. spring renewal and joy reside in his soul.

Who is to blame, or what to do?

It’s good for those, you say, dear readers, who know the laws of nature and live according to these laws. Like, to cleanse yourself in winter...

What if it’s already caught? If the dragonfly sang red all summer, and then winter came? If such an unearthly melancholy has attacked you that you don’t want to do anything, and the good light is not nice, things are not a joy, and your desires have completely disappeared somewhere! What to do in this case?

The answer is simple actually. You can, of course, close yourself within four walls, remain inactive, feel sorry for yourself, and slowly but surely, I would say, move with snail’s steps towards the end of such an unhappy and unhappy life.

And then be reborn and... hey! Our song is good, start over!

And, as you, dear readers, have already understood, it’s fun to walk the same way again life path with unsolved and often aggravated tasks from a past life, and all this is fun, or again not fun, to unravel.

And there is another option. Just understand that you can’t escape your life programs. You will still have to solve your problems. Not in this life, but in the next. Therefore, it is better to quickly resolve everything, in youth language, stop moping and continue to live in good health and excellent spirits.

Jokes aside. But in fact, when a person becomes despondent, when he constantly wants to cry and his soul is torn from pain and suffering, when his whole insides screams “I can’t do this anymore,” a person really has very little strength left to cope on his own.

At such moments, it is important and vital to tell your family and friends about What do you feel, What are you thinking about. And ask them for help.

If you still see a small, even tiny, straw ahead of you that you can grab onto and heal from despondency and depression, then gather all your will into a fist and... grab it decisively!

How to get rid of despondency. 11 ways to wake up

Before listing the list of saving “straws” for getting rid of despondency, I want to say the following.

However, it would be more effective to gradually add the next one to one perfect action, and then the next one. Until you start to invent for yourself OWN ways to get rid of despondency.

It will also be important to note that depression, apathy, despondency, melancholy, reluctance to do anything, reluctance to live - all these are signs of spiritual illness.

This is a sure sign that you don’t have life goals, you don’t know where to move next. Life is “like a fog.” Or you don’t live your life, you don’t achieve your goals, but those imposed on you, you don’t want your own desires.

Give yourself time to think: what is my meaning in life, why do I live, what, in my opinion, is my purpose.

If you want, you can use the help of your family, ask them about your talents and skills. They will contain the answer to why you were born and what tools you have to fulfill your destiny.

Look for reasons why you live. Seek and find.

May the force be with you in this endeavor. And generally speaking.

Let's summarize

So, dear readers.

As you can see, there are enough ways to get rid of despondency. To tell the truth, the most difficult thing in this work is to force yourself to overcome “weakness” and powerlessness and do something. But anything is possible.

The most important, if you feel that you are falling into despondency, you should not give in to this feeling. Drive him away before it's too late.

Getting out of a deep ditch is more difficult than getting out of a small hole or, walking and catching on a bump, to stay on track.

Come up with your own ways getting rid of despondency, apathy and depression. By the way, you can assign yourself awards for the work done and give out prizes. Agree on this with your imagination.

Remember, if you have at least one ray of hope that everything will be fine, if you have even a drop of desire to smile and feel happiness in your chest again, if your soul is glad for the light of day even for a second or kind words- that means all is not lost!

Cling tighter and more confidently to the straw that life hands you. Grab and hold on.

Look, the straw will miraculously turn into a strong stick, the stick then into a strong pole, and then you will completely get out of the swamp onto the shore and joyfully run through the expanses of life.

Then the long-awaited spring update will come!

Every day, take confident steps towards your joy, overcome sadness and melancholy, perform the most incredible actions for you - the main thing is that you feel yourself again happy man who wants to live, create and enjoy life!

With love to you, dear readers!

PS: And at the end of this story, I want to give you Alla Pugacheva’s composition “Hold me, straw”.

Alla Pugacheva “Hold me, straw.” Listen

P.P.S.: What methods of filling you with joy do you use? Write in the comments, please. It is very interesting to me!

Do you want to learn practical ways to cleanse yourself from despondency, depression, and fears?

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At the dawn of Christianity, the Greek monk Evagrius of Pontus formulated the whole system mortal sins, which at that time included pride, envy, laziness, anger, lust, greed and gluttony. There were seven of them in total. From childhood, Christians were taught that he must work from morning until late evening, since laziness is a mortal sin. Christians ate poorly because gluttony was also a mortal sin. They also could not be proud, envious, greedy, evil and lustful. But after some time, this list was made more humane, so to speak.

Dejection is a sin

People, despite the fear of ending up in eternal torment in hell, still did not want to deprive themselves of worldly entertainment and pleasures. How not to treat yourself to carnal pleasure or a feast with your friends? Thus, some prohibitions were edited and softened in the list of mortal sins. For example, Pope Gregory the Great removed from fornication, but laziness and gluttony were removed from him. Some sins have generally become human “weaknesses.”

However, something else is interesting: Pope Gregory the Great, allowing his flock to smooth out the sin of adultery through repentance and prayer, suddenly adds despondency to the list of mortal sins - a seemingly absolutely innocent property for the human soul. I would like to note that despondency remained on the list unchanged, and moreover, many theologians to this day consider it the most serious of all mortal sins.

Mortal sin - despondency

So why is despondency considered? The whole point is that when a person is overcome by despondency, he becomes good for little, he shows indifference to absolutely everything, and especially to people. He cannot do work with dignity and quality, he is not able to create, friendship and love also do not please him. Therefore, it was fair to classify despondency as mortal sins, but it was in vain that lust and fornication were removed from this list.

Melancholy, despondency, depression, sadness, sadness... Falling under the power of these, we do not even think about what negative and crushing power they have. Many believe that these are some subtleties of the state of the mysterious Russian soul, I think there is some truth in this. However, psychotherapists consider all this to be a very dangerous phenomenon, and that a long stay in this state leads to depression, and sometimes to the most irreparable thing - suicide. Therefore, the Church considers despondency a mortal sin.

Despondency or sadness?

Dejection is a mortal sin, which Orthodox theology is interpreted as a separate sin, while in Catholicism there is sadness among the mortal sins. Many cannot discern any particular difference between these emotional states. However, sadness is considered as some kind of temporary mental disorder associated with some unpleasant event or incident. But despondency can occur without any reason, when a person suffers and cannot explain his condition even with complete external well-being.

Despite all this, the Church believes that we must be able to accept all trials with a cheerful state of mind, real faith, hope and love. Otherwise, it turns out that a person does not recognize a single whole doctrine about God, about the world and about man. This type of unbelief leaves the soul to its own devices, thereby dooming a person to mental illness.

Sad means non-believer

Such a mortal sin (despondency) is called evil depravity; under the influence of this, a person begins to be lazy and cannot force himself to take the necessary saving actions, since nothing consoles him or pleases him, he does not believe in anything and does not even hope. Ultimately, all this directly affects the human soul, destroying it, and then his body. Dejection is an exhaustion of the mind, a relaxation of the soul and an accusation of God’s inhumanity and unmercifulness.

Symptoms of despondency

It is important to promptly identify symptoms that indicate that destructive processes have begun. These are sleep disturbances (drowsiness or insomnia), bowel dysfunction (constipation), changes in appetite (overeating or lack of appetite), decreased sexual activity, fatigue during mental and physical stress, as well as impotence, weakness, pain in the stomach, in muscles and heart.

Conflict with yourself and with God

The conflict, primarily with oneself, gradually begins to develop into an organic disease. Dejection is a bad mood and spirit, accompanied by Thus, sin grows into human nature and acquires a medical aspect. Orthodox Church in this case, it offers only one path to recovery - this is reconciliation with oneself and with God. And for this you need to engage in moral self-improvement and at the same time use spiritual and religious psychotherapeutic techniques and methods.

A person suffering from depression can be advised to find an experienced confessor from a monastery to help him get out of this terrible state. A conversation with him can last up to several hours, until he figures out the source of such deep spiritual sorrow; he may have to spend some time in the monastery. And only then will it be possible to begin healing the soul. After all, despondency is a serious illness that can still be treated.

Orthodox medicine

A person who has decided to fight this kind of physical and spiritual illness will urgently need to change his lifestyle and begin active churching. For many people, it is a serious illness that leads them to understand their sinful life, so they begin to look for a way out on the gospel path. The main thing in Orthodox medicine is to help a sick person free himself from his own passions and thoughts, which are connected to the general process of destruction of body and soul. At the same time, a believer, when faced with an illness, should not refuse professional medical care. After all, it is also from God, and to refuse it means to reproach the Creator.