Good help is hard to find...

At once deeply personal, level-headed, and practical, this is an excellent book for both those suffering from acute depression/suicidality and those who would help them, especially those in pastoral ministry. Your experience and that of those you love will differ in ways from Chris, but I suspect any disagreements you have will be minor.

I do have two disagreements in tone, but i suspect these would evaporate talking with the author over coffee.

Good help is hard to find, but Christians should have an extra level of charitable skepticism starting a secular counseling relationship. Conceited counselors are poison anywhere, but at least a bumbling pastor is trying to give you the word of God, and he's cheaper! Both are human, neither may the best person to meet you in your moment, and its on you to find wise, humble, helpful counselors. Be Berean: I hope Pr. Bob is an honorable man, but he isn't inspired and he owes you Gods word in sevice... if he's reading that Word, he'll want to rope in a multitude of counsellors ASAP.

More concerning is the tendency of secular psychology to reduce sufferers to victims of their mental states. YES, we are, some more than others at particular times! But we also have some freedom by God's grace. Mental health is a spectrum, mental illness a progression, and both vice and virtue are habits. Some will leave this book viewing sin as a merely medical issue... it is rarely less but always more.

Don't believe a self-important bible thumper who tells you to pray your problems away, but don't be cosseted by a professional calming presence collecting $120 an hour to help you feel good about yourself, big pharma on one shoulder and the insurance man on the other. Believer, your sin is awful, Christ's love is greater, and you have a choice every moment: keep feeding or fixating on your demons or be grateful to God and love others in response. GET HELP and don't put your eggs in one basket, but whatever therapies, medications, or habits you use along the way, make sure you're going the right Way.

PASTORS, take note: develop partnerships with good counselors who can work with you from a distance with negoteated release of information. Also, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater: psychology has come a long way from the smarmy psychobabble of the 80s and can be stupid practical. Get this: there's even a school called ACT based on the premise of A-ccepting that life is tough and you may need to hold your feelings at arms length in order to C-ommit to making positive values-driven changes through practical, scientifically validated exercises in T-herapy...

All in all, this was an excellent read. Hurting people will feel less alone. Thank you.

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