Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the BiBle, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used By permission. All rights reserved. @DrMBengtson #HopePrevails 1 Table of Contents Praise for Hope Prevails Study Guide ................................................................................. 2 A Prayer as You Begin ......................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4 When the Whole World is Laughing But You ..................................................................... 5 A Letter to My Depressed Self ............................................................................................ 6 Chapter 1 – This Thing Called Depression .......................................................................... 7 Chapter 2 – You Are Not Alone ......................................................................................... 11 Chapter 3 – The Underlying Causes of Depression ........................................................... 15 Chapter 4 – Recognize You Have an Enemy ..................................................................... 21 Chapter 5 – Recover Your Joy ........................................................................................... 26 Chapter 6 – Reclaim Your Peace ....................................................................................... 31 Chapter 7 – Re-estaBlish Your Identity ............................................................................. 37 Chapter 8 – Know Your Worth .......................................................................................... 43 Chapter 9 – Remember Your Secure Destiny ................................................................... 47 Chapter 10 – Be Cofidet That Nothig Sepaates You fo Gods Loe ...................... 52 Chapter 11 – God Uses Your Pain ..................................................................................... 58 Chapter 12 – The Way to Hope ......................................................................................... 62 You Have a Gift to Give ..................................................................................................... 67 How to Help a Depressed Loved One ............................................................................... 69 Closing Prayer ................................................................................................................... 70 Biography .......................................................................................................................... 71 Contact Information .......................................................................................................... 71 #HopePrevails @DrMBengtson 2 In Praise of the Study Guide Praise for Hope Prevails Study Guide The Hope Prevails Study Guide allows readers to delve deeply into their own lives, examining areas that may have been hidden behind masks of rejection, fear, self-doubt, etc. The questions are thought-provoking and straight forward, yet sensitively written. Going through the questions and studying Scripture, they're able to discover many of the answers to the questions of their hearts. It’s alost like haig Mihelle herself sittig y your side! Peg jjj Reading Hope Prevails gave me a better understanding of depression and how it can affet a perso’s etire eig – mind, body, and soul. I learned that depression affects us spiritually and that we must address these spiritual needs to find true healing. But it as’t util I orked through the study guide questions that I found my life was being changed and transformed. Though I have never been diagnosed with depression, I have faily eers ho hae. I ega to read the ook for the. But the study guide questions helped to reveal my own personal need for healing. I saw that I was not immune to believing many of the lies of the enemy that keep me from truly seeing myself as God sees me. I needed to do the work in the study guide to be set free from the lies that held me captive. And I truly believe that if you are willing to do the work, you, too, can be set free. Gina jjj The study guide promoted an in-depth look at areas of my life that I had been in denial about. Answering the questions brought certain problem areas to the surface that were then healed. The study guide was most helpful. Diana jjj Answering the study guide questions while reading Hope Prevails really made me stop and think, and then take the action that Michelle is recommending. The truths in the ook ere’t goig to help e uless I applied hat I as learing, and the study guide really helped e to do that. Applyig God’s truth to the sutle lies e eliee really does give us hope and set us free. Even though I was already familiar with these truths, studyig the agai ith Mihelle’s getle guidae, from her perspective as both a neuropsychologist and a fellow sufferer who has walked out of that dark valley, brought them in to fresh focus—and brought me closer to my Good Father. Mary Lee jjj @DrMBengtson #HopePrevails A Prayer as You Begin 3 A Prayer as You Begin Dear Heavenly Father, You know the heart and the needs of the one who has piked up Hope Preails and no holds the study guide in their hands. Even Jesus asked the lame man if he wanted to get well, in part because He knew that true healing often requires effort on our part. Father, it is NOT your will that any of your children suffer from depression. In fact, you say in your word that it is your desire that we would be in health and prosper even as our soul prospers. So Father, as your precious child begins to do the work of reading this book and answering the questions in this study guide, I ask that you would illuminate lies that do not align with your truth, and that you would bring comfort and healing to the broken places, and that the bondage of depression would be broken so that joy could return in the morning. Because of and in the Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen. #HopePrevails @DrMBengtson 4 Introduction Introduction I attended more years of school than I want to count. But there is one thing that I learned: when I actually read the texts, studied the lectures and assigned reading, and did the work, I really learned the material so much Better than when I just gave it a skimming over. The courses that I fully invested myself in are those that I rememBer the most today, decades later. Another thing I know to Be true: there was a reason Jesus asked the lame man if he wanted to get well. He knew that 1) in order to get well, it would require some work on the part of the lame man, and 2) He knew that Being well would Be an adjustment for the man. The man would have to assimilate himself into society as a well-man and discard the label, habits, and coping mechanisms he had grown accustomed to all those years. He had a choice to make: did he want to Be well Badly enough to Be willing to do the work? I see this issue in my office all the time. Patients come into my office, undergo an evaluation, then receive a diagnosis and prescription for treatment. Frequently, however, patients leave with prescription and treatment plan in hand then never follow the plan, only to return a year or two later in worse shape than when they originally ae i. Wh? Beause the eet illig to do the work. One can only assume they didt eall at to get ell, although the said the did he the fist alked i door. So the question I pose to you as you crack open Hope Preails: Isights Fro a Dotor’s Persoal Jourey Through Depressio is this: Do you want to get well? If your answer is yes, then I encourage you to do the work: pray and ask God to reveal to you what He has for you Between the covers of Hope Preails. Read the Book; listen to the playlists at the end of each chapter; read the prayers as if they were written just for you; take the tie to ase the uestios i the Your Rx setio at the ed of eah hapte; But also answer the uestios i this stud guide. Youll fid that these uestios go more in depth and help you pinpoint where you are and how to get to where you want to go. If ou didt. ou ouldt hae piked up Hope Preails in the first place! The reason I wrote Hope Preails was to share with you the comfort that God shared with me when I as i the alle of depessio ad eeded to ko that I ast aloe and there was a way out. God helped me through it. The BiBle tells us that He is no espete of pesos, hih eas that He doest pla faoites. If He did that for me, He will do it for you as well. So lets stat this joue out of the alle togethe—oue ee thee log eough! Because of Him, Hope Prevails! Dr. Bengtson @DrMBengtson #HopePrevails When the Whole World is Laughing But You 5 When the Whole World is Laughing but You For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (RSV) Key Thoughts: No one is immune to pain and suffering. We have to understand what depression does to us spiritually and cooperate with God to experience the chains falling off. Depression affects us physically, emotionally, and spiritually, so unless we address the spiritual side of depression, healing will Be suBoptimal. Question 1: If you are struggling with depression, what part of this section draws you in the most? What part would minister