A few months ago, we at The Porch received an article from Kelly Dunn, working through his most recent battle with depression. We then reached out and asked if he would be willing to do an interview in addition to his article for our new series, Manifold Witness. This series seeks to look at different callings, careers, passions, and gifts through the lens of Colossians 1:16-17, which says, “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” The title of the series is taken from the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness.

“If there was some way I could broach the subject, or I could introduce the subject of mental illness and Christianity, I wanted to do that because I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about it,” said Kelly Dunn in regards to the article he submitted to The Porch. Mental illness is an incredibly broad topic, but here we will mostly be discussing depression, both situational and clinical. Situational depression is primarily event related, where the person’s mood is affected by certain memories, times of year, and/or similarities to other times of depression. Clinical depression is a bit different. It is primarily caused by a chemical alteration in the brain, and can happen at any time with seemingly no reason or cause. These depressive episodes can leave a person feeling drained, unmotivated, sad, and angry, among other things. 

Mental illness can be overwhelming, especially to those who feel they have no experience with it. I asked Kelly why mental health is important to God, and subsequently, why it should be important to the people of God, and he said, “This is challenging, because some people want to say, ‘Well, can’t God just fix you? Aren’t you supposed to be able to pray and be healed by the Lord?’ And the answer is I don’t know why. But I believe everything that we encounter is not an accident. I don’t believe the Lord is up in heaven, ‘Oh Kelly’s got depression, oops.’ I don’t believe that. I think God does heal people, and I believe He still cares for people with mental illness, and I believe He’s raised up doctors and medicines to help people. If He didn’t care, we wouldn’t have the available resources to help people.” Kelly acknowledged as well that, “Some Christians don’t know how to talk to people with depression. Some Christians want to say, ‘Well, just pray more. Read your Bible. What’s wrong with you?’ And then other Christians will feel fearful of upsetting you or setting you off, so they’re not helpful because they kind of want to stand away from you. But then there are other Christians, like one in particular who’s in heaven now, Ib, wonderful man. He had dealt with depression in his own life, and he was one here in church that we would drink coffee and talk.” One of the most helpful ways to care for those struggling with mental illness, depression or otherwise, is to listen, Kelly said. This means that “When someone’s talking to you, you’re not wanting to wait until they’re finished with something so you can talk. Active listening is actually listening to what the person is saying to where you have an understanding. And you don’t necessarily have to fix them.” This is a huge point of caring for those struggling with mental illness. Most of the time all of us, not just those of us with depression, are looking for someone to just listen, not someone to swoop in and fix everything. Active listening takes time, and sacrifice, but practicing it ultimately leads to stronger community. 

Community was another thread throughout Kelly and I’s conversation: “One of the biggest indicators of depression is isolation, and one of the biggest helps is being with other people,” he said. “I’ve been so depressed I’ve not