Through the Dark Woods

Jo Swinney

Description

This book is based on the author's own experience of wrestling with depression, and her story carries the book along. Using this structure she discusses the stigma associated with depression. She talks of the importance of correct diagnosis, and the challenges of day to day survival. She takes an honest look at the temptation to suicide, and how depression affects one's prayer life and relationship to God. Where are the sources of comfort and healing? Jo Swinney considers biblical characters subject to depression, and argues for the importance of sharing stories. Finally she asks, what does her depression teach her?

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Lion Hudson
• Date de parution: 12 septembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780857213952
• Langue: English

Extrait

Copyright © 2006 by Joanna Swinney This edition copyright © 2006 Lion Hudson
The right of Joanna Swinney to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Monarch Books an imprint of Lion Hudson plc Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] www.lionhudson.com/monarch
ISBN: 978-1-85424-768-1 (UK) ISBN: 978-0-8254-6133-0 (USA) e-ISBN 978-0-85721-395-2
First edition 2006
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version, © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. All rights reserved.
British Library Cataloguing Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover photo by Bruce Jeffrey Cover illustration by Sandra Isaksson
Dedicated to my parents; with love and gratitude for your companionship on the journey through the woods
Table of Contents
Title Page Copyright Dedication A Note About Who This Book is for Acknowledgments Foreword A Fairy Tale 1 Roots 2 Dragons 3 Stigma 4 Naming 5 Support 6 Relationships 7 Suicide 8 Survival 9 Spirituality 10 Church 11 Story 12 Healing 13 Books 14 Redemption Notes
A Note About Who This Book is for
I have come to realise that depression is a widespread problem, and therefore the topic is relevant to a lot of us. My intended readership includes those who are currently depressed, those who used to be but no longer are, those who know someone who is or was depressed, those who are just interested in the subject, or those who know me and are reading it to be loyal even though they have no interest in depression at all! I have written it as a Christian, and some things will be more pertinent to those who are also Christians, but I hope it will have something to say to anyone, regardless of their spirituality or lack of it. So really, I have tried to cast the net pretty wide, and – whoever you are – please read, enjoy and join in the conversation.
Acknowledgments
I really need a whole other book for ‘Thank Yous!’ So many people have supported, encouraged and worked with me on this project. I have marvelled at times at my audacity to even attempt a feat such as this, and now I find myself at the point of completion I know it would not have been possible alone.
Thank you to Tony Collins at Monarch, for taking a risk with an unknown author and for being a fantastically encouraging and supportive editor. It has been a true pleasure to work with you. All the team at Monarch are wonderful – I landed on my feet with this publishing house: thank you guys!
I am grateful to Carolyn Armitage for her practical advice and encouragement when the manuscript was in foetal form. She gave me courage to go forward when it would have taken very little to stop me in my tracks.
Although the book has had the benefit of input from a huge number of people along the way, a handful have been particularly influential in the shape of the final product. I’d like to thank Becky Davies, Sophie Williams, Bekah Callow and my parents for the work and care they put into combing through the manuscript and giving me feedback. It is a much better book than it would have been without your comments. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
In addition to stories of my own life, I have drawn upon those of several people I know, and I am greatly indebted to those who have given me permission to do so. In particular, thank you to Gemma, Carolyn and Suzannah. Where permission has not been sought (and occasionally where it has), names and key details have been changed to protect identities.
Thank you to Charlie and Anita for letting me hunker down to write in their beautiful home in Oxford when I needed to get away from my messy house (I found I had no time to tidy or clean while writing). It was a great gift to have you close by – thank you for your loving hospitality and timely encouragement.
My family have been dispersed over three continents in the months I have been writing, but they have managed to stay closely involved. I love you all so much! Let’s all get together soon, OK? Thank you Mum and Dad, Est and Rob, Jem and Davy and Bethie, for being the best family in the world ever !
Lastly, thank you to my Shawn. I am blessed indeed to share my life with you. Thank you for believing in me, smoothing my edges, keeping me going. I am yours forever xxx
Foreword
Jo is fun, she’s serious, she’s open yet protective of her own identity, she’s an adventurer but doesn’t forget where the safe places are, like a strong swimmer always with an eye on the beach. She writes engagingly and takes you to places that are familiar to every human being. Herein lies the importance of her story. Depressive feelings, as well as moments of elation, are the emotions of being alive and form the experience of us all, and clinical depression afflicts one in five of us. All of us will in our lifetime either experience depression or be affected intimately by someone who is depressed. This honest testimony of a young woman will help you identify and name these episodes and to know with a little more wisdom how to be and what to do when they happen.
These short chapters stand like sturdy stepping stones across a fast running river. You could jump quickly from one to the other and read the whole book in one sitting. But the real benefit is likely to come from dwelling on each stone, absorbing the scene and taking a look into the deep of the water. To do so will probably find you catching sight of your own reflection. This is where Jo’s book will act like a mirror to your own life. Whether you see yourself as a depressive or the friend or the family of someone with depression you will get a glimpse of your own story and start reflecting on your moods, the reason why you feel the way you did and how you coped.
You may also hear in your own life the echoes of the man from Nazareth who cried out ‘My God, why have you abandoned me?’. These feelings of lonely forsakenness, so often the lot of the depressed, go right to the heart of God because they come right out of the heart of God! They were uttered by the Son of God as hung on dark wood. He cries out of the depths of his own being as he made his own journey through the dark woods. That’s why he is such a sympathetic companion. As, indeed, is Jo.

The Rt. Revd James Jones
Bishop of Liverpool
A Fairy Tale
Once upon a time, in a land not so very far from here, there lived a little girl named Pearl. She was always smiley and happy for everyone treasured her, and she felt safe as could be in her cottage with her mother and father and flowers and birds all around.
This land had a wise and caring king, who often visited his citizens to make sure they were OK and sometimes stayed for tea and cake. He was such a good ruler that everyone trusted him to protect them from the dangers of the surrounding countries and even from the ones that lurked in the woods within their own borders. Pearl had known since she was a baby that the king was there to protect her.
One day, when Pearl woke up, she could feel that something was different. The first thing she noticed was that the sun was not shining through her red, checked curtains as it had done every morning that she could remember. And the fat, tortoiseshell cat that usually slept at the foot of her bed was not there. And now she realised that the smell of freshly baked bread and the sound of her mother singing were absent too. Things were definitely not as they should be. Still, Pearl decided not to panic, being mostly a sensible sort of person, and she got up and dressed and went downstairs.
After twice going through each room carefully, she realised she was alone in the cottage, which had never happened to her before and she was not sure at first what to do. Eventually she went outside, and called in case anyone was nearby. She called and called but there was no answer.
Now, I have told you how the citizens of this land trusted the king, and you must remember this or you will think what I am about to tell you very strange. For when after some time Pearl had accepted that she had been left all alone, and given the other things that were odd about the day, she decided to set out to the royal castle so the king could look after her until her parents returned and the sky went back to its usual sunny self (by now the clouds had grown extremely threatening).
She knew which way to go, because the king had built his castle on the tallest hill in sight. You could see it from anywhere in the land which made it very easy to find (I think that was why he chose to put it there, being as I said, very thoughtful).
Pearl set out feeling a little uneasy but mostly fine, because she had a plan, and she had packed some of yesterday’s bread and a bottle of water. At first she made good progress, and even sang to herself for a while to cover up the silence, which was growing louder and louder as the day went on. But then she started to get scared. It seemed as though there were pairs of eyes peeping out at her from behind every tree, and sometimes she saw a shadow moving along beside her. In her haste to get to the king’s castle she had not given a thought to the goblins and elves and creepy-crawly creatures that were said to live in the woods.
She went on for some time, walking faster and faster until she was quite out of breath and had to stop. She rested on a grassy patch and ate some of her bread and tried to cheer herself up by remembering all the things she liked in h