All posts by Darkmyroad

I knew it! Incence IS the cure for depression!

A reader pointed this out to me:

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Bethesda, MD—Religious leaders have contended for millennia that burning incense is good for the soul. Now, biologists have learned that it is good for our brains too. In a new study appearing online in The FASEB Journal (https://www.fasebj.org), an international team of scientists, including researchers from the United States and Israel, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our noses.

Breaking News–The FASEB Journal (07-101865)

I will have to digest this a little bit, but it does make a lot of sense to me.  Incense or sulfur.  I know which I would choose…

My only question is, should this be categorized under “natural remedies” or “divine remedies” or something else?

-DMR

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Healthy brain gene linked to depression – Telegraph

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Healthy brain gene linked to depression – Telegraph

 

I had a reader pass this link along for your interest in benefit.  What this means for those of us who suffer from depression is that there may very well come a time (sooner rather than later) when the medication to treat clinical depression will be much more specific and more more effective than it is right now.  How great would that be?

Read this article and let me know what you think.  Is this a pipe dream on my part?

-P

Video of Lutheran view on depression now available

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Through the gracious energies of the Lutheran Catechetical Society, I am now happy to report that there is a video of my presentation that I gave to the LCS last weekend at Christ Lutheran Church in Normal, Illinois.

The LCS has been in existence for around five years, and they have high quality videos of a number of their presentations available.  The video of my presentation is essentially a shortened version and commentary on my book, I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression, available from LCMS World Relief and Human Care.  I receive requests for videos from time to time, and this is now where I will be pointing them.

If you are interested in having me come and speak to your congregation, circuit, women’s group, etc., about depression and the hope we have in Christ, please email me here.

Thank you to all of my friends in Indiana and Illinois!  It was a wonderful weekend.  God bless you!

-Pastor Todd Peperkorn

Lutheran Catechetical Society – Speaking on October 10 in Normal, Illinois

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The Lutheran Catechetical Society has invited me to come and speak on the topic of  (you guessed it!) Lutherans and depression.  It is being held at Christ Lutheran Church in Normal, Illinois.  HERE is a link to the google map of the same.  And HERE is a link to the Facebook event.

So I am driving from Grace, Columbus, IN over to Normal, Illinois, for this gig.  If you are in the Normal-Bloombington area, I would urge you to join us!  I am told that they will also be offering a video recording of this event.

A Lutheran View of Depression (Columbus, Indiana)

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Grace Lutheran Church in Columbus, Indiana, has graciously invited me to come and speak the weekend of October 9 & 10.  I will be speaking on Saturday evening, and then preaching and leading bible class on Sunday morning.  If any of you are in the area, I would love to see you!  I will be posting on another speaking event that I have in central Illinois here in a moment.

If you would like to find out more, check out the event page for this on Facebook.

Pastor Todd Peperkorn

Reminders

Through a series of peculiar events, I am serving as a delegate to the 2010 LCMS Convention in Houston, Texas.  You may follow my general thoughts about it here.  One event today kind of served as a trigger for me that I thought would be worth reflection upon here.

Since my illness, I have been less comfortable around large crowds, loud noises, and kind of close in, packed situations.  Tonight I had opportunity to go to an awesome baseball game where the Cardinals whooped the Astros 8-0.  (GO CARDS!)  The game was good.  It was fun.  I love baseball and so much about it and the culture which surrounds it.  But at the end of the game when we were getting up to leave, the people around us looked at us funny.  I couldn’t figure out why no one was getting up.  The game was over, and the home team got trounced.  Don’t these people ever leave?

It turns out that this Friday they were have a fireworks display after the game.

Now those of you who have been reading this for a while might remember that fireworks are one of those triggers for me.  You can read more about it here.  So when I heard that they were having fireworks, it was as if 15000 people all sorta crowded in around me asking, “So, Todd, are you going to stay?”  I kinda freaked out, and left rather abruptly.

I’m fine.  Just so we’re clear.

This little mini-event reminded me of how certain things can serve as triggers.  Sights, sounds, smells.  There are some things that I haven’t been able to really enjoy since I was on disability, because I associate them with my illness.  Golf and woodworking both come to mind.

I think all of us have these events or things that trigger certain memories or feelings.  What are yours?  How do you address them?  Do they derail you, or is it just a passing feeling that improves over time?

A part of what helps me in these situations is being able to externalize them.  If I can recognize what is going on, that allows me to maintain a modicum of control and perspective on the whole matter.  For those of you who are into E.Q. type stuff, this would fall under self-awareness.  This process has allowed me to move forward through such events and not allow them to paralyze me.

What think ye?  Is this common or a peculiar Peperkornism?

-DMR

 

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Recommended Reading List on Depression

I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Concordia Deaconess Conference on the topic of depression and how to care for those suffering from mental illnesses of various types.  Below is the reading list I prepared for this wonderful group of ladies.  If I have missed anything that you might consider important, please let me know!  I’d love to revise and update it along the way here.  Thanks!  -DMR

Bibliography for Deaconess Conf

Recommended Reading List on Depression

On Depression

Greene-McCreight, Kathryn. Darkness is My Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Illness. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006.

Hart, Archibald D. Unmasking Male Depression. Thomas Nelson, 2001.

Karp, David A. Speaking of Sadness: Depression, Disconnection, and the Meanings of Illness. Oxford University Press, USA, 1997.

Peperkorn, Todd A.  I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression. St. Louis: LCMS World Relief and Human Care, 2009.

Rogers, Matt. Losing God: Clinging to Faith Through Doubt and Depression. IVP Books, 2008.

Solomon, Andrew. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. Scribner, 2002.

Stryker, William.  Visible Darkness: A Memoir of Madness.  New York: Random House, 1990.

For the Families of Loved Ones

Karp, David A. The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope With Mental Illness. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 2002.

On the Theology of the Cross

Floysvik, Ingvar. When God Becomes My Enemy: The Theology of the Complaint Psalms. Concordia College, 1997.

Forde, Gerhard O., and Martin Luther. On Being a Theologian of the Cross: Reflections on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation, 1518 (Theology). Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997.

Lewis, C.S.  A Grief Observed.  San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1961, 2001.

Schulz, Gregory.  The Problem of Suffering: A Father’s Thoughts on the Suffering, Dead, and Life of His Children.  Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1996.

On Pastoral Care

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Spiritual Care. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1985.

Eyer, Richard C. Pastoral Care Under the Cross: God in the Midst of Suffering. Concordia Publishing House, 1995.

Eyer, Richard C. They Will See His Face: Worship and Healing. Concordia Publishing House, 2002.

Kleinig, John W. Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today. Concordia Publishing House, 2008.

On Pastoral Burnout

Hoge, Dean R., and Jacqueline E. Wenger. Pastors in Transition: Why Clergy Leave Local Church Ministry (Pulpit and Pew Series). Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005.

Preus, Robert D. “Clergy Mental Health and the Doctrine of Justification.” Concordia Theological Quarterly 48, no. 2 & 3 (1984): 113-23.

Prayer and Devotional Works

Bansemer, Richard. Forced to Pray: God’s Chosen Under Pressure. New York: American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, 2008.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1974.

Burke, William.  Protect Us From All Anxiety: Meditations for the Depressed.  Chicago: ACTA Publications, 1998.

Deffner, Donald L. Prayers for People Under Pressure. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1992.

Gerhard, Johann. Meditations on Divine Mercy: A Classic Treasury of Devotional Prayers. Concordia Publishing House, 2003.

Kinnamon, Scot, ed.  Treasury of Daily Prayer.  St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2008.

Lewis, C.S. Reflections on the Psalms (Harvest Book). Harvest Books, 1964.

Luther, Martin. Reading the Psalms with Luther. Concordia Publishing House, 2007.

Lutheran Book of Prayer. Rev. ed. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

Lutheran Service Book. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006.

Reardon, Patrick Henry. Christ in the Psalms. Conciliar Press, 2000.

Steinmann, Andrew E. Is God Listening: Making Prayer A Part of Your Life. Concordia Publishing House, 2004.

Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn
The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, 2010
Concordia Deaconess Conference
Concordia University Chicago, June 23-26, 2010

Presentation on Depression for CDC

Below is a PDF file of the slideshow from the Deaconess Conference, as well as a QuickTime movie of the same.  I have not posted the actual slideshow file, since I will probably use portions of it in the future.  If for some reason you would like access to the actual Keynote or PowerPoint file, please contact me via email or telephone. Thanks! -DMR

Presentation on Depression for CDC

Presentation of Slides in QuickTime for CDC

[quicktime width=”500″ height=”400″]https://www.darkmyroad.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/deaconesskeynote.mov[/quicktime]