Page 144 - Advanced Biblical Counseling Student Textbook

“As anxiety is a response to the threat of future loss, depressed mood is often a response to past and
current loss. About one in four people diagnosed with depression is simply struggling with the normal
emotional impact of a significant loss, such as a loved one’s death, a ruptured marriage, a lost job. To
feel bad in reaction to profoundly sad events is to be in touch with reality.” 212

“But when does this response become seriously maladaptive? Joy, contentment, sadness, and despair
are different points on a continuum, points at which any of us may be found at any given moment. The
difference between a sad mood after bad news and a mood disorder is like the difference between
gasping for breath after a hard run and being chronically short of breath.” 213

(photo from: brokenbelievers.com)

Postpartum Depression is depression suffered by a mother following childbirth, typically arising from
the combination of hormonal changes, psychological adjustment to motherhood, and fatigue
(oxforddictionaries.com). According to Mayo Clinic, a world renown medical center in the United States,
“The birth of a baby can trigger a jumble of powerful emotions, from excitement and joy to fear and
anxiety. But it can also result in something you might not expect — depression. Most new moms

212 Myers, 2009.
213 Ibid.

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