Hope in the Mess of Depression

It is such an honor to have Dr. Michelle Bengtson visiting My Messy Desk today. I’m reading her book, Hope Prevails, now and it is extremely helpful for anyone struggling with depression and those who love someone who is.

Order your own copy here.

Today she is sharing with us about how she leveraged hope to overcome the MESS of depression. I know you’ll be blessed by her encouraging words!

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Hope in the Mess of Depression

by: Dr. Michelle Bengtson

“Honey, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do to help you right now,” were the words fearfully expressed by my husband only barely louder than a whisper as he sat awkwardly in the driver’s seat of our Toyota sienna minivan, staring at me in the grocery store parking lot.

“I don’t know either.” And I didn’t. Not only didn’t I know what he could say or do to make things better, I didn’t know how I had gotten in this place. Just moments before, as I sat stone cold staring out the passenger window, I whispered nothing more than a monotone robotic utterance, “I understand why people commit suicide.”

Never before had I felt so low that I didn’t want to go on. I can’t really even tell you how I had gotten to that desperate place. I had been through far worse circumstances in my life. Perhaps that’s what added to my despair: I frequently berated myself, “you made it through far worse situations, why can’t you pull yourself together? What do you have to be depressed about now?” And of course I heard the comments from others: “There’s always someone worse off than you,” “This too shall pass,” “You just have to choose to focus on the positive,” and on and on the comments came. But they didn’t help—they never did. They only induced guilt and shame. After all, I was the doctor who treated patients with depression. If I could help them feel better, why couldn’t I heal myself?

I treated patients with depression. Why couldn’t I heal myself? @DrMBengtson #HopePrevails Click To Tweet

All those thoughts and comments did was serve to make me feel worse about myself and make me feel guilty and ashamed. Then I began to wonder, “What if I always feel this way?” “What if I’m joy immune?” “Maybe I’m being punished.” “Maybe this is just my cross to bear.” That line of thinking just circled back to reinforce the depression. Maybe you’ve been there too.

Many offered their cliché responses, I guess thinking I’d never heard them before or that this time their platitude would be the miracle cure I hadn’t thought of. Still others resorted to slapping a Bible verse on me almost akin to “Have a nice day,” as they went back to their happy life.

One particular friend was, however, quick to listen and slow to speak. When she did speak, first she prayed, then she reminded me that our best defense is to stand on what we know to be true; to stand on God’s promises. She reminded me that while the days were long and the nights were dark in that particular season of my life, God promised that he would smooth out the road before me: “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight” (Isaiah 45:2).

Whether it was my degree of desperation at that point, or her slow measured pace, I received her encouragement like a glass of ice water to my parched throat on a hot August day in Texas. After one sip, I craved more.

I took the verse she gave me, wrote it on a post-it note and put it on my nightstand so that every time I saw it, I’d be reminded to claim God’s promise as my own. The next day the Lord gave me another verse that watered a dry spot in my heart and offered another ounce of hope. Again, I wrote it out on a post-it note, and put that one on my bathroom mirror.

Over the next few weeks books I read, songs I sang, messages I heard, and my own daily quiet time in the Bible made verse after verse after verse leap out to me offering another sip of living water to my dry and cracked, depressed heart. I wrote each verse out and posted them all around my bedroom, bathroom, car, kitchen, and office until I had well over 100 scripture everywhere I looked.

Every time I saw one of the post-it notes, I reread aloud the personal messages of hope to my heart. Faith comes by hearing, and each time I heard one of God’s promises, my faith grew and replaced a morsel of the despair I had been feeling. Then as I began recognizing the defeating thoughts I was having, I intentionally chose to replace them with the truth of God’s word that had been posted all around my house.

Replace defeating thoughts with God's word. @DrMBengtson #HopePrevails Click To Tweet

The enemy is sly and sneaky. He never plays fair. In my weakness, he quietly whispered hopeless lies to my heart intended to steal, kill, and destroy. But God relentlessly pursued me through the promises of the truth in His word, and in doing so, brought His abundant life and living water back to my dry and thirsty heart.

Friend, God doesn’t play favorites. What He did for me, He will do for you as well. Will you trust Him and rely on His hope that prevails? Will you intentionally choose to replace the lies you’ve listened to, with the truth of His word?

Because of Him, #HopePrevails!

Because of Him, #HopePrevails! @DrMBengtson Click To Tweet

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Author, speaker and board certified clinical neuropsychologist, Dr. Michelle Bengtson is also a wife, mother and friend. She knows pain and despair firsthand and combines her professional expertise and personal experience with her faith to address issues surrounding medical and mental disorders, both for those who suffer and for those who care for them. She offers sound practical tools, affirms worth, and encourages faith. Dr. Michelle Bengtson offers hope as a key to unlock joy and relief—even in the middle of the storm. She blogs regularly on her own site: http://www.DrMichelleBengtson.com Dr. Bengtson’s book “Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression” (Revell publishers, August 16, 2016) is available for purchase now: http://drmichellebengtson.com/hope-prevails-book/

For more hope, stay connected with her at:

To order Hope Prevails: http://drmichellebengtson.com/hope-prevails-book/

Website: http://www.DrMichelleBengtson.com

Blog: http://drmichellebengtson.com/category/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrMichelleBengtson

Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/DrMBengtson (@DrMBengtson)

LinkedIn: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/DrMichelleBengtson

Google+: http://www.google.com/+MichelleBengtson

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/drmichellebengtson

Pinterest: http://www.Pinterest.com/Drbhopeprevails

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn92DHzGSZk8psDb2FKazOQ

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About “Hope Prevails”:

Hope Prevails

Insights from a Doctor’s Personal Journey through Depression

Dr. Michelle Bengtson

Speaking from personal and professional experience, a neuropsychologist unpacks what depression is, shows how it affects us spiritually, and offers hope for living the abundant life.

Neuropsychologist Offers Hope to Those Struggling with Depression

-By 2020, depression will be our greatest epidemic worldwide

• An estimated 350 million people worldwide suffer from some form of depression
• As with the bestselling My Stroke of Insight, the author experienced the same condition she treats
• Helpful features include personal stories, biblical truths, prayers, and music recommendations

As a board-certified neuropsychologist, Dr. Michelle Bengtson has seen the devastation that people experience when depression sweeps into their lives. She knew what research advocated in terms of the most effective treatments and prescribed them to her clients. But when she personally experienced to the ravages of depression, she found that the treatments she had been using with her patients didn’t help her. As a result, her personal experience became the catalyst for a more holistic approach to treating depression in others.

In Hope Prevails, Dr. Bengtson writes with deep compassion and empathy, blending her extensive training and faith, to offer readers a hope that is grounded in God’s love and grace. She helps readers understand what depression is, how it affects them spiritually, and what, by God’s grace, it cannot do. The result is a treatment plan that addresses the whole person—not just chemical imbalances in the brain.

For those who struggle with depression and those that want to help them, Hope Prevails offers real help, hope, and healing for the future.

Dr. Michelle Bengtson (PhD, Nova Southeastern University) has been a neuropsychologist for over twenty years. She interned at the University of Oklahoma with “The Father of Neuropsychology,” Dr. Oscar “Oz” Parsons, and completed postdoctoral training at both the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and the University of Alabama Health Sciences Center in Birmingham, Alabama. She lives in Dallas/Fort Worth with her husband, their two sons, and two dogs. Among her favorite things are beaches, boating, and sea salt caramel. Learn more at www.drmichellebengtson.com.