Every person can face difficult emotional experiences, regardless of their financial situation, living conditions and life situations.
It is especially difficult if it is difficult to find an external cause for such a state - everything is fine, but the cats are scratching at your soul.
Prayer from despondency and despair will help you find peace of mind. Here are the remedies the church offers to cope with this problem.
What prayer to read when your soul is heavy
In such a situation, priests advise going to church, lighting a candle and praying in front of the icon. It is believed that prayers in front of the icons of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy” and “Inexhaustible Chalice” help most from despondency and anxiety, if the melancholy is associated with alcohol consumption or a person who drinks or uses drugs.
Prayers to Nicholas the Wonderworker and Tikhon of Zadonsk help.
But in order for the prayer to work, priests advise repentance, since perhaps the cause of depression was a sin or an act in the past that prevents you from living happily in the present.
When the soul is hard, praying to the Mother of God helps. It should be read in front of the icon of Unexpected Joy - it is believed that it helps to find peace of mind, improve relationships in the family, or please a person who is currently feeling unwell with unexpected joy or a favorable resolution of difficult circumstances.
You can pray in your own words in front of the icon or purchase an akathist for the icon of “Unexpected Joy.”
Prayer before the icon of Unexpected Joy:
“Oh, Most Holy Theotokos, I pray to you about... (the essence of the problem), give me the strength to accept sorrow with a calm soul and give me the strength to accept all trials so as not to fall into despair and despondency, protect the servant of God (your name) from troubles , give protection and forgive all sins, amen.”
The exact text of the prayer is written in Old Church Slavonic and is a little difficult to understand, but you can pray in your own words.
If your church does not have this icon, you can turn to the icons “Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos”, “Joy of All Who Sorrow” and “Seven Arrows”, if despondency is caused by hostility, persecution and aggression from other people.
Powerful prayer for depression
It is difficult to get rid of a depressive state on your own if a person is not able to cope with melancholy and a feeling of loneliness.
A powerful prayer in such a situation would be the prayer to the Great Martyr Varvara:
“O Great Martyr Barbara, who endured suffering for Christ and received a reward from the Lord for this, help me, God’s servant, from melancholy, despondency and despair, deliver me from suffering, worries and sorrows, amen.”
The prayer is read daily in front of the home icon or, if possible and time, in front of the icon of St. Barbara in the church.
Prayer for longing for a loved one
In Orthodoxy there are no prayers for longing for a loved one - usually the church in such a situation offers prayers for sorrow, despondency and despair.
Women can pray for a successful marriage and mutual love in front of the icons of Matrona of Moscow, Xenia of Petebrurga, or in front of any image of the Mother of God.
If separation from a loved one is caused by rivalry or enmity, then they pray in front of the icon of the Mother of God of Seven Arrows (depicted with daggers).
Prayers and canons to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker or Paraskeva Pyatnitsa help.
How to get rid of despondency Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Church is inclined to believe that despondency and despair are caused by sins and wrong behavior in the past. Therefore, in order to get rid of this feeling, you need to come to confession and repent of your sins before the priest, tell him about the problem and ask for advice.
Some priests are of the opinion that despair sets in if a person loses faith, begins to rely too much on himself and on other people, forgetting about God.
The main sins that can lead to despair can be the following violations of God’s commandments:
- The creation of an idol is blind faith in a person, an idea or signs, placing great hopes on them, which can lead to despair.
- Serious sin in the past (murder, attempted suicide, destruction of someone else's family, abortion).
- Drunkenness or drug addiction.
- Pride, excessive arrogance.
Prayer to Tikhon of Zadonsk from despondency
Tikhon Zadonsky created a powerful prayer for depression.
Its exact text is indicated in the prayer book in Old Church Slavonic; the prayer, accessible to understanding, is presented below:
“Oh Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, Great Saint of Christ! Accept the prayer of the servant of God (your name), free me from self-wisdom and self-righteousness, human malice. Protect from all evil and help you find faith, love, happiness and health, spiritual and physical, may the Grace of God help you overcome any difficulties and get rid of defenselessness and despair, amen.”
Prayer for despondency by John of Kronstadt
John of Kronstadt created a prayer out of fear and despondency.
Its exact text is indicated in the prayer book; for an understandable text of the prayer, see below:
“The Lord will destroy my despondency and give me strength in any situation in life. Glory to You, You are deliverance from despondency and despair, a holy life-giving source, filling Me with the strength and love of heaven. Glory to Thee, Tri-Hypostatic Lord, Who bestows all understanding and love, Amen.”
Oh, Marvelous Creator, Humane-loving Master, Most Merciful Lord! With a contrite and humble heart I pray to Thee: do not disdain my sinful prayer, do not reject my tears and sighs, hear me, like the Canaanite, do not despise me, like the harlot. So, show me, a sinner, the great mercy of Your love for mankind: with Your honest robe Protect, have mercy and strengthen me, so that I may endure all the troubles and misfortunes sent from You with gratitude in the hope of eternal blessings; Rather, turn my sadness into joy, so that I, the damned one, do not fall into despair and perish. For You are the source of mercy and the unshameful hope of our salvation, Christ our God, and to You we send glory with Your Beginning Father, and Your Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, we forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer 2 to the Lord
Lord, Lord of heaven and earth, King of the ages! Deign to open the door of repentance for me, for in the pain of my heart I pray to You, the true God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the world: look upon many with Your compassion and accept my prayer; do not turn him away, but forgive me, who have fallen into many sins. For I seek peace and do not find it, because my conscience does not forgive me. I am waiting for peace, but there is no peace in me because of the deep multitude of my iniquities. Hear, Lord, me, who am in despair. For I, deprived of any readiness and any thought to correct myself, fall before Your compassions: have mercy on me, cast down to the ground and condemned for my sins. Turn my cry, O Lord, into joy for me, tear apart the sackcloth and gird me with joy. And deign that I may receive peace, like Thy chosen ones, O Lord, from whom sickness, sorrow and sighing have fled, and may the door of Thy Kingdom be opened to me, so that, having entered with those who enjoy the light of Thy face, O Lord, I may receive eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord . Amen.
Psalm 101
Audio:
Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to You. Do not turn Your face away from me: in the day when I mourn, incline Your ear to me: in the day I call on You, hear me quickly. As if my days had vanished, like smoke, and my bones had dried up like dry land. I was wounded like grass, and my heart was withered, as if I forgot to eat my bread. At the sound of my groaning my bone cleaves to my flesh. I became like the tawny owl of the desert, like a night raven on a dive (on a ruin). Bdekh and bykh like a special bird here (on the roof). All day long you have slandered me, and those who boast about me swear by me. It was ashes, as my bread was eaten and my drink dissolved with weeping, from the presence of Thy anger and Thy wrath: as Thou didst exalt and cast me down. My days have turned away like the shade, and I have dried up like hay. But You, Lord, endure forever, and Your memory endures forever. You have risen to show mercy to Zion: for the time has come to show mercy to it. For Thy servants are pleased with his stone, and his dust shall be cut off. And the nations shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall fear thy glory: for the Lord shall build Zion, and appear in his glory. Consider the prayer of the humble and do not despise their prayers. Let this be written to the generations, and the people of Zizhdemia will praise the Lord: as from His holy height, the Lord looked down from heaven to earth, to hear the groaning of the chained, to resolve sons of the slain: proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem, and at some point gather people together and the king, even the work of the Lord. Answer him on the way of his strength: make known to me the diminishment of my days: do not bring me to the end of my days: in the generation of generations is Your summer. In the beginning, O Lord, You founded the earth, and Your hand made the heavens. They will perish, but you remain: and all they promise like a robe, and like a garment, they will be changed. You are the same, and Your years will not fail. Your sons and servants will dwell, and their seed will be corrected forever.
God! Hear my prayer, and let my cry come to You. Hide not Your face from me; in the day of my tribulation, incline Your ear to me; on the day [when] I cry [to You], hear me quickly; For my days are gone like smoke, and my bones are burned like a brand; my heart is smitten and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread; because of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my flesh. I am like a pelican in the desert; I became like an owl on the ruins; I don’t sleep and sit like a lonely bird on the roof. Every day my enemies revile me, and those who are angry with me curse me. I eat ashes like bread, and I dissolve my drink with tears, out of Thy anger and Thy indignation, for Thou hast exalted me and cast me down. My days are like a retreating shadow, and I am withered like grass. But You, Lord, remain forever, and Your memory endures forever. You will arise, you will have mercy on Zion, for the time has come to have mercy on it, for the time has come; for Thy servants have loved its stones, and have pity for its dust. And the nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory. For the Lord will build Zion and appear in His glory; He will listen to the prayers of the helpless and will not despise their prayers. This will be written about for the generation that follows, and the generation to come will praise the Lord, for He came down from His holy height, the Lord looked down from heaven to the earth, to hear the groan of the prisoners, to loose the sons of death, so that they might proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem, when nations and kingdoms are gathered together to serve the Lord. He exhausted my strength along the way, He shortened my days. I said: My God! do not take me away in half my days. Your summers in childbirth. In the beginning You, O Lord, founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands; they will perish, but You will remain; and they will all wear out like a robe, and like a garment You will change them, and they will be changed; but You are the same, and Your years will not end. The sons of Your servants will live, and their seed will be established before You.
Oh, wonderful servant of God, Father Silouan! By the grace given to you by God, tearfully pray for the entire universe - the dead, the living and the future - do not remain silent for us to the Lord, who fervently fall to you and touchingly ask for your intercession (names) . Move, O all-blessed one, to prayer the Zealous Intercessor of the Christian race, the Most Blessed Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, who miraculously called you to be a faithful worker in Her earthly city, where the chosen one of God begs God for our sins, merciful and long-suffering, so that our untruths and iniquities are not remembered , but according to the ineffable goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to spare and save us according to His great mercy. She, servant of God, with the Most Blessed Lady of the World - the Most Holy Abbess of Athos and Her holy ascetics, ask the saints for the most holy Word of the holy Mount Athos and its God-loving desert dwellers to be preserved from all the troubles and slander of the enemy in the world. Yes, the Angels deliver the saints from evil and strengthen them in faith and brotherly love with the Holy Spirit, until the end of the century they pray for the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and show everyone the saving path, and the Earthly and Heavenly Church constantly glorifies the Creator and Father of Lights, enlightening and illuminating peace in the eternal truth and goodness of God. Ask the people of the entire earth for a prosperous and peaceful life, a spirit of humility and brotherly love, good morals and salvation, a spirit of fear of God. Let it not be malice and lawlessness that harden the hearts of men, which can destroy the love of God in men and cast them into godless enmity and fratricide, but in the power of Divine love and truth, as in heaven and on earth, hallowed be the name of God, may His holy will be done in men , and may peace and the Kingdom of God reign on earth. Likewise, ask for your earthly Fatherland - the land of Russia, the servant of God, the longed-for peace and heavenly blessing, covered by the all-powerful omophorion of the Mother of God, to get rid of famine, destruction, cowardice, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners and internecine warfare and from all visible enemies and invisible, and thus remain the most holy house of the Most Blessed Mother of God until the end of the age, the Life-giving Cross by the power, and be established in the inexhaustible love of God. For all of us, who are immersed in the darkness of sins and warmth of repentance, who have no lower fear of God and who constantly insult the Lord who loves us immeasurably, ask, O all-blessed one, from our All-Bountiful God, so that with His All-powerful divine grace He will visit and revive our souls and all evil and may he abolish worldly pride, despondency and negligence in our hearts. We also pray that we, strengthened by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit and warmed by the love of God, in philanthropy and brotherly love, in humble crucification for one another and for everyone, may be established in the truth of God and well strengthened in the gracious love of God, and will draw closer to the filial One. Yes, thus, doing His all-holy will, in all piety and purity of temporary life, let us walk the path unashamedly and with all the saints of the Heavenly Kingdom and His Lamb we will be honored. To Him from all earthly and heavenly be glory, honor and worship, with His Beginningless Father, His Most Holy and Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Zealous Intercessor, Compassionate Mother of the Lord, I resort to You, the accursed one and the most sinful man above all. Hear the voice of my prayer and hear my cry and groaning. For my iniquity has exceeded my head, and I, like a ship in the depths, am plunging into the sea of my sins. But You, All-Good and Merciful Lady, do not despise me, desperate and perishing in sins. Have mercy on me, who repent of my evil deeds, and turn my lost, damned soul to the right path. On You, my Lady Theotokos, I place all my hope. Thou, Mother of God, preserve and keep me under Thy roof, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Zealous Protector, compassionate Mother of the Lord, I, despicable and the most sinful of all people, resort to You. Hear the voice of my prayer and hear my cry and groaning. For my iniquities are above my head, and I, like a ship in the abyss, am plunging into the sea of my sins. But You, All-Blessed and Merciful Lady, do not reject me, despairing and perishing in sins. Have mercy on me, who repent of my evil deeds, and turn my lost, unfortunate soul to the right path. On You, my Lady Theotokos, I place all my hope. You, Mother of God, save and keep me under Your protection now, always and forever. Amen.
Oh, Most Blessed Lady, protector of the Christian race, refuge and salvation of those who flow to You! We know, truly we know how much we have sinned and been angry, O Merciful Lady, the Son of God born in the flesh of You. But the imam gave many images of those who angered His mercy before me: tax collectors, harlots and other sinners, to whom forgiveness of their sins was given, for the sake of repentance and confession. Thou, therefore, imagining the images of those pardoned by the eyes of my sinful soul, and looking at the great mercy of God that I have received, I dared, even a sinner, to resort with repentance to Thy mercy. O All-Merciful Lady! Give me a helping hand and ask Your Son and God, through Your mother’s prayers and Your most holy prayers, for forgiveness for my grave sin. I believe and confess that He Whom You gave birth to, Your Son is truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Judge of the living and the dead, reward each according to His deeds. I again believe and confess that You are the true Mother of God, the source of mercy, the consolation of those who mourn, the seeker of the lost, a strong and unceasing intercessor to God, fiercely loving the Christian race and a helper of repentance. Truly, there is no other help and protection for us except You, Most Merciful Lady, and no one, trusting in You, was ashamed when, and by You begging God, no one was quickly abandoned. For this sake and I pray to Your innumerable goodness: open the doors of Your mercy to me who have gone astray and fallen into the dark times of the depths, do not disdain the foul me, do not despise my sinful prayer, do not leave me the accursed, as an evil enemy seeks to kidnap me to destruction, but beg for me Your merciful Son and God, born of You, may He forgive my great sins and deliver me from my destruction, as if I, together with all who have received forgiveness, will sing and glorify the immeasurable mercy of God and Your unashamed intercession for me in this life and forever.
Prayer before the icon of the Mother of God
Hope to all the ends of the earth, Most Pure Virgin, Lady Theotokos, our consolation! Do not disdain us sinners, for we trust in Your mercy: extinguish the sinful flame burning in us and water our parched hearts with repentance; Cleanse our minds from sinful thoughts, accept the prayers offered to You from the soul and heart with sighs. Be an intercessor for us to Your Son and God and turn away His anger with Your motherly prayers. Heal mental and physical ulcers, Lady Lady, quench the illnesses of souls and bodies, calm the storm of evil attacks of the enemy, take away the burden of our sins, and do not leave us to perish and sorrow until the end Comfort our contrite hearts, may we glorify Thee until our last breath.
Prayer before the icon of the Mother of God
Oh, Most Holy Virgin, the All-Blessed Son of the All-Blessed Mother, the Patroness of this city and holy temple, faithful to the Representative and Intercessor of all who are in sins, sorrows, troubles and illnesses! Accept this prayer song from us, unworthy of Your servants, offered to You, and like the sinner of old, who prayed many times before Your honorable icon, You did not despise him, but You gave him the unexpected joy of repentance and You bowed Your Son to His many and zealous ones. intercession for the forgiveness of this sinner and erring one, so even now do not despise the prayers of us, Thy unworthy servants, and implore Thy Son and our God, so that all of us who worship with faith and tenderness before Thy celibate image will grant unexpected joy for each need: as a shepherd to the church - holy zeal for the salvation of the flock; a sinner mired in the depths of evil and passions - all-effective admonition, repentance and salvation; for those who are in sorrow and sorrow - consolation; those found in troubles and bitterness - their complete abundance; for the faint-hearted and unreliable - hope and patience; in the joy and contentment of those living - unceasing thanksgiving to God the Benefactor; to those in need - mercy; those who are in illness and long illness and abandoned by doctors - unexpected healing and strengthening; for those who were waiting for the mind from illness - return and renewal of the mind; those departing into eternal and endless life - memory of death, tenderness and contrition for sins, a cheerful spirit and firm hope in God's mercy. Oh, Most Holy Lady! Have mercy on all who honor Your honorable name, and show everyone Your all-powerful protection and intercession; abide in piety, purity and honest living until their last death in goodness; create evil good things; guide the erring one on the right path; Make progress in every good work that is pleasing to Your Son; Destroy every evil and ungodly deed; in bewilderment and difficult and dangerous circumstances, invisible help and admonition were sent down from heaven; save from temptations, seductions and destruction; protect and preserve from all evil people and from enemies visible and invisible; floating float; for those who travel, travel; Be the Nourisher for those in need and hunger; be the Cover and Refuge for those without shelter and shelter; Give clothes to the naked; for those who are offended and suffer from untruths - intercession; invisibly justify the slander, slander and blasphemy of those who suffer; expose slanderers and slanderers before everyone; Unexpectedly grant reconciliation to those who are bitterly at odds, and to all of us towards each other love, peace and piety and health with long life. Preserve marriages in love and like-mindedness; spouses who exist in enmity and division, die, unite to each other and establish an indestructible union of love for them; to mothers and children giving birth, grant permission quickly; educate infants, young ones to be chaste, open their minds to the perception of every useful teaching, instruct the fear of God, abstinence and hard work; Protect from domestic strife and enmity of half-bloods with peace and love. Be the Mother of motherless orphans, turn them away from every vice and filth and teach everything good and pleasing to God; those who have been seduced into sin and uncleanness, having revealed the filth of sin, bring them out of the abyss of destruction. Be the Comforter and Helper of widows, be the rod of old age. Deliver us all from sudden death without repentance, and grant us all the Christian death of our life, painless, shameless, peaceful and a good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ, Having ceased in faith and repentance from this life with the angels and all the saints, create a life; To those who died a sudden death, entreat Thy Son to be merciful; for all the departed who have no relatives, who beg for the repose of your Son, be a constant and warm Prayer Book and Intercessor; Yes, everyone in heaven and on earth leads You as a firm and shameless Representative of the Christian race, glorifying You and Your Son with His Originless Father and His Consubstantial Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Prayer before the icon of the Mother of God
Oh, Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord of the Highest Powers, Queen of Heaven and Earth, our city and country, our all-powerful Intercessor! Accept this singing of praise and gratitude from us, unworthy Thy servants, and lift up our prayers to the Throne of God Thy Son, that He may be merciful to our iniquities and add His grace to those who honor Thy all-honorable name and with faith and love worship Thy miraculous image. We are not worthy of being pardoned by Him, unless You propitiate Him for us, the Lady, for everything is possible for You from Him. For this reason, we resort to You, as to our undoubted and speedy Intercessor: hear us praying to You, cover us with Your all-powerful protection and ask God Your Son as our shepherd for zeal and vigilance for souls, as a city ruler for wisdom and strength, for judges of truth and impartiality, as a mentor reason and humility, love and harmony for a spouse, obedience for children, patience for those who are offended, fear of God for those who are offended, complacency for those who grieve, abstinence for those who rejoice: for all of us is the spirit of reason and piety, the spirit of mercy and meekness, the spirit of purity and truth. To her, Most Holy Lady, have mercy on Your weak people; Gather those who are scattered, guide those who have gone astray onto the right path, support old age, educate young ones with chastity, raise infants, and look upon us all with the care of Your merciful intercession; raise us up from the depths of sin and enlighten the eyes of our hearts to the vision of salvation; be merciful to us here and there, in the land of earthly arrival and at the Last Judgment of Your Son; Having ceased in faith and repentance from this life, our fathers and brethren began to live with the Angels and all the saints in eternal life. For you are, Lady, the Glory of the heavenly and the Hope of the earthly, You, according to God, are our Hope and Intercessor of all those who flow to You with faith. We therefore pray to You and to You, as the Almighty Helper, we commit ourselves and each other and our whole life, now and ever, and forever and ever. Amen.
Any person during his life at least once was in a state of despondency, melancholy, in a bad mood or depression. But it happens that such a condition develops into a serious problem. A prayer against despondency will help you cope with it. It can not only improve your mood, but also cure even a protracted illness.
The power of prayer in times of sadness
In Orthodoxy, depression and despondency are equated with mortal sins. Therefore, it is important to quickly deal with a bad mood, otherwise it can develop into something more serious. For example, a serious illness may develop. Depressed people are often prone to making rash decisions. Some even commit suicide in this state.
Melancholy, despondency and bad mood appear due to the lack of positive changes, fun moments and variety in life. This is due to the lifestyle of most people, who spend almost all their time at work. Moreover, even on weekends, they rarely engage in active recreation, preferring the sofa and TV.
Prayer is designed to help fight the routine and dullness of life. Visiting church and reading prayer texts help a person:
- tune into a calm mood;
- pacify your fears and concerns;
- find peace of mind;
- overcome despair;
- alleviate longing for a deceased relative;
- find the strength to fight and overcome all the obstacles encountered on the path of life.
Pronunciation of sacred texts allows you to receive the help and protection of saints. Thanks to the prayer service, people drive away sinful and evil thoughts, and are also distracted from the everyday bustle, finding salvation in the Lord God.
Prayer is considered more effective than drugs. Pills can only temporarily relieve melancholy. They remove the symptoms, but not the cause of the bad mood. The prayer service influences a person’s soul, healing his mental suffering and pacifying his emotions.
Turning to many saints also removes illness. Very often, prolonged depression leads to a significant deterioration in a person’s well-being. Dejection can cause a serious illness, which without spiritual and medicinal treatment may well end in death.
One of the manifestations of melancholy and depression are various mental disorders. The best medicine for eliminating such violations is turning to the saints. Prayer is especially useful for people who have suicidal tendencies.
A prayer service can normalize a person’s state of mind, restore him to cheerfulness, and also give him peace and tranquility. Since the reasons for the appearance of a bad mood are varied, different petitions are read to overcome a difficult stage of life. Various saints can provide help and support, as well as protect from harmful influences and sinful thoughts. But the strength of the read request will be different in each case.
The choice of prayer largely depends on the reason that provoked depression or despondency. To raise your spirit and improve your emotional state, prayer requests are read in front of the following images:
- Holy Great Martyr Barbara;
- Saint Tikhon;
- Righteous John of Kronstadt;
- Rev. Ephraim;
- Nikolai Ugodnik;
- Martyr Tryphon;
- The Mother of God in front of the icon of “Unexpected Joy”.
The prayer to the Virgin Mary is considered the most powerful. Appealing to other saints is also effective, but in certain life situations. Before prayer, you can light a candle near the image. Its flame will already have a pacifying effect.
To receive help, you need to sincerely believe and conduct a prayer service with all your heart.
Video “How to get rid of despondency?”
In this video, the archimandrite will tell you what to do if a person is overcome by despondency, depression, and how to get out of this state.
What texts to read
From laziness and despondency
Lord Jesus Christ, hearken to Thy servant, who suffers for Thy name, and grant Thy grace; let the sick, where they honor my memory, be miraculously healed for the glory of Thy name.
In the earthly vale, we are tormented by many sorrows, cramped by troubles, confused by a storm of temptations and temptations, depressed by various illnesses, we weaken in spirit and fall into despondency and spend the short days of our life in inaction. without having any acquisition behind us, since we have no good deeds with the help of which we could be justified in a future life and receive eternal bliss.
Therefore, we beg you, holy martyr Alexander, help us throw off the burden of negligence and laziness, so that we can cheerfully begin the deeds of hard work and remain firm in striving and doing spiritual things in order to gain salvation for you.
And for the sick, hear our prayer, Saint Alexander, and heal us, suffering from physical and mental ailments, by appearing to help us, because before your death you prayed for those who would honor your memory, so that they would be delivered from all diseases.
So, show concern for us who honor your memory and save us from illness and heal the weak who call on you, so that the name of God may be glorified by all at all times. Amen.
For depression
O all-praised saint and saint of Christ, our Father Tikhon! Having lived like an angel on earth, you, like a good angel, appeared in your wondrous glorification.
We believe with all our souls and thoughts that you, our merciful helper and prayer book, with your honest intercessions and grace, abundantly bestowed on you from the Lord, are constantly contributing to our salvation.
Accept therefore, blessed servant of Christ, even at this hour our unworthy prayer: free us through your intercession from the vanity and superstition that surrounds us, the unbelief and evil of man.
Strive, quick intercessor for us, to beg the Lord with your favorable intercession, may He add His great and rich mercy to us sinners and unworthy His servants, may He heal with His grace the incurable ulcers and scabs of our corrupted souls and bodies, may He dissolve our petrified hearts with tears of tenderness and contrition for our many sins, and may He deliver us from eternal torment and the fire of Gehenna: and may He grant to all His faithful people in this present world peace and silence, health and salvation, and good haste in everything, and so, a quiet and silent life lived in every piety and purity, vouchsafe me with the angels and with all the saints to glorify and sing the All-Holy Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
From constant melancholy
Living in the help of the highest, in the shelter of the heavenly God, the Lord will say: You are my intercessor and my refuge, my God and I trust in Him. For He will deliver you from the snare of the trap and from the words of the Rebellious, His blanket will overshadow you, And under His wing you trust, His Truth will bypass you as an instrument. Do not be afraid from the fear of the night, from the arrow flying during the day, from the thing that comes in the darkness, from the cloak and the midday demon.
Thousands and thousands will fall from your country at your right hand, but they will not come close to you. Behold Your eyes and see the reward of sinners. For You, O Lord, are my hope, You have made the Most High your refuge. No evil will come to you, and no wound will come near your body. As His Angel commanded you, keep you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their arms, and once they dash your foot on a stone, you will step on and cross an asp and a basilisk, a lion and a serpent. For he has trusted in Me, and I will deliver him, and I will cover him, and because he has known My name, he will bring him to Me, and I will hear him, I am with him in sorrow, I will destroy him and glorify him, I will fill him with long days, and I will show him My salvation.
Why is prayer the most effective remedy against despondency? For many reasons.
Firstly, when we pray during times of despondency, we thereby fight against the demon who is trying to plunge us into this despondency. He does this so that we despair and move away from God, this is his plan; when we turn to God in prayer, we destroy the tricks of the enemy, showing that we did not fall into his trap, did not surrender to him, but, on the contrary, we use his intrigues as a reason to strengthen the connection with God that the demon tried to break .uj
Secondly, since despondency in most cases is a consequence of our pride, prayer helps to heal from this passion, that is, it pulls out the very root of despondency from the ground. After all, every humble prayer asking God for help - even such a short one as “Lord, have mercy!” - means that we recognize our weakness and limitations and begin to trust God more than ourselves. Therefore, each such prayer, even pronounced through force, is a blow to pride, similar to the blow of a huge weight, which destroys the walls of dilapidated houses.
And finally, thirdly, and most importantly: prayer helps because it is an appeal to God, Who alone can truly help in any situation, even the most hopeless one; the only one who is able to give real consolation and joy and freedom from despondency.
“The Lord helps us in sorrows and temptations. He does not free us from them, but gives us the strength to easily endure them, not even to notice them.
If we are with Christ and in Christ, then no sorrow will confuse us, and joy will fill our heart so that we will rejoice both during sorrows and during temptations” (Rev. Nikon of Optina).
Some advise praying to the guardian angel, who is always invisibly next to us, ready to support us. Others advise reading an akathist to the Sweetest Jesus. There is also advice to read the prayer “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary” many times in a row, with the hope that the Lord will certainly give peace to our soul for the sake of the prayers of the Mother of God.
But the advice of Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) deserves special attention, who recommended repeating such words and prayers as often as possible during times of despondency.
"Thank God for everything".
"God! I surrender to Your Holy will! Be Your Will with me."
"God! I thank You for everything that You have been pleased to send to me.”
“I accept what is worthy according to my deeds; remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.”
The Holy Fathers noted that it is especially difficult for a person to pray in despondency. Therefore, not everyone will be able to fulfill large prayer rules at once, but everyone can say those short prayers that St. Ignatius indicated, it is not difficult.
As for the reluctance to pray in despondency and despair, we need to understand that this is not our feeling, but a demon instilled in us specifically for the purpose of depriving us of the weapon with which we can defeat him.
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk speaks about this reluctance to pray when despondent: “I advise you the following: convince yourself and force yourself to pray and to every good deed, even though you don’t want to. Just as people whip a lazy horse to make it walk or run, so we need to force ourselves to do everything, and especially to pray. Seeing such work and diligence, the Lord will give desire and zeal.”
Of the four phrases proposed by St. Ignatius, two are phrases of thanksgiving. He himself explains why they are given: “In particular, thanks to God, sorrowful thoughts are driven away; When such thoughts invade, thanksgiving is pronounced in simple words, with attention and often - until the heart brings peace. There is no sense in sorrowful thoughts: they do not relieve sorrow, they do not bring any help, they only upset the soul and body. This means that they are from demons and you need to drive them away from yourself... Thanksgiving first calms the heart, then brings it consolation, and subsequently brings heavenly joy - a guarantee, a foretaste of eternal joy.”
In times of despair, demons inspire a person with the idea that there is no salvation for him and his sins cannot be forgiven. This is the greatest demonic lie!
“Let no one say: “I have sinned a lot, there is no forgiveness for me.” Whoever says this forgets about the One who came to earth for the sake of the suffering and said: “...there is joy among the angels of God even over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10) and also: “I came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32),” teaches St. Ephraim the Syrian. While a person is alive, it is truly possible for him to repent and receive forgiveness of sins, no matter how serious they may be, and, having received forgiveness, transform his life, fill it with joy and light. And it is precisely this opportunity that demons try to deprive a person of, instilling in him thoughts of despair and suicide, because after death it is no longer possible to repent.
So “none of the people, even those who have reached the extreme degree of evil, should despair, even if they have acquired the skill and entered into the nature of evil itself” (St. John Chrysostom).
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk explains that the test of despondency and despair makes a Christian more cautious and experienced in spiritual life. And “the longer” such a temptation continues, “the greater the benefit it will bring to the soul.”
An Orthodox Christian knows that just as much as the sorrow of all other temptations is greater, those who endure sorrow with patience will receive a greater reward. And in the fight against despondency, the greatest crown is bestowed. Therefore, “let us not lose heart when sorrows and sorrows befall us, but, on the contrary, let us rejoice more that we are following the path of the saints,” advises St. Ephraim the Syrian.
God is always next to each of us, and He does not allow demons to strike a person with despondency as much as they would like. He gave us freedom, and He makes sure that no one takes this gift from us. So at any moment a person can turn to God for help and repent.
If a person does not do this, it is his choice; the demons themselves are not able to force him to do so.
In conclusion, I would like to quote a prayer composed by St. Demetrius of Rostov just for people suffering from despondency:
God, Father of our Lord Christ, Father of mercies and God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrow! Comfort everyone who is grieving, saddened, despairing, or overwhelmed by the spirit of despondency. After all, every person was created by Thy hands, wise by wisdom, exalted by Thy right hand, glorified by Thy goodness... But now we are visited by Thy Fatherly punishment, short-term sorrows! “You compassionately punish those you love, and you show mercy generously and look upon their tears!” So, having punished, have mercy and quench our sorrow; turn sorrow into joy and dissolve our sorrow with joy; Surprise us with Thy mercy, O Lord, wondrous in counsels, Incomprehensible in destinies, Lord, and blessed in Thy deeds forever, amen.
Here is the real story of one of our contemporary. He is 35. He is a fairly successful businessman. He has a beautiful and modest wife and a little daughter, a large apartment in Moscow, a dacha, two cars, many friends... He has what many people strive for and dream about. But none of this pleases him. He forgot what joy is. Every day he is oppressed by melancholy, from which he tries to hide in business, but to no avail. He considers himself an unhappy person, but cannot say why. There is money. Health, youth - there is. But there is no happiness.
He is trying to fight, to find a way out. He regularly visits a psychologist and goes to special seminars several times a year. After them, he feels relief for a short time, but then everything returns to normal. He says to his wife: “Even though this doesn’t make me feel any better, at least they understand me.” He tells friends and family that he suffers from depression.
There is one special circumstance in his situation, which we will talk about a little later. And now we have to admit that, unfortunately, this is not an isolated example. There are many such people. Of course, not all of them are in such an outwardly advantageous position, so they often say: I’m sad because I don’t have enough money, or I don’t have my own apartment, or the job is wrong, or the wife is grumpy, or the husband is a drunk, or the car is broken, or no health, and so on and so forth. It seems to them that if only they could change and improve something a little, then the melancholy will go away. They spend a lot of effort on achieving what they think they are missing, but they barely manage to achieve what they want when, after a brief joy, melancholy sets in again. You can look through apartments, places of work, women, cars, friends, hobbies, but nothing can satisfy this all-consuming, hopeless grief once and for all. And the more wealthy a person is, the more, as a rule, it torments him.
Psychologists define this condition as depression. They describe it as a mental disorder that usually occurs after negative events in a person's life, but often develops without any apparent reason. Currently, depression is the most common mental illness.
The main symptoms of depression: depressed mood, regardless of circumstances; loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyable activities; fatigue, “loss of strength.”
Additional symptoms: pessimism, feelings of guilt, worthlessness, anxiety and fear, inability to concentrate and make decisions, thoughts of death and suicide; unstable appetite, disturbed sleep - insomnia or oversleeping.
In order for a diagnosis of depression to be made, the presence of two main and two additional symptoms is sufficient.
If a person finds these symptoms, what should he do? Many people go to psychologists. And what do they get? Firstly, soul-searching conversations, and secondly, antidepressant pills, of which there are a great many. Psychologists say that depression can be successfully treated in most cases. But at the same time they recognize that this is the most common mental illness. There is a contradiction here: if the disease is successfully treated, then why does it not disappear, and the number of patients even increases over time? For example, smallpox has been successfully eradicated, and for a long time there have been no people who fell ill with it. But with depression the picture is exactly the opposite. Why?
Is it because only the manifestations of the disease are treated, while its true foundations are still preserved in the souls of people, like the roots of weeds that again and again produce harmful shoots?
Psychology is a young science. It received official registration only 130 years ago, when in 1879 W. Wundt opened the first laboratory of experimental psychology in Leipzig.
Orthodoxy dates back 2000 years. And it has its own view of the phenomenon that psychology calls “depression.” And it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with this view for those who are really interested in the possibility of successfully getting rid of depression.
In Orthodoxy, the word “despondency” is used to denote this state of soul. This is a painful condition in which a melancholy mood penetrates the soul, becoming permanent over time, a feeling of loneliness, abandonment by family, friends, all people in general, and even God comes. There are two main types of despondency: despondency with complete depression of spirit, without a feeling of any bitterness, and despondency with an admixture of feelings of anger and irritability.
This is how the ancient holy fathers of the Church talk about despondency.
“Despondency is relaxation of the soul and exhaustion of the mind, slandering God - as if He is unmerciful and unloving of mankind” (Rev. John Climacus).
“Despondency is a grave torment of the soul, an unspeakable torment and a punishment more bitter than any punishment or torment” (St. John Chrysostom).
This condition also occurs among believers, and among non-believers it is even more common. Elder Paisius the Svyatogorets said about them: “A person who does not believe in God and in the future life exposes his immortal soul to eternal condemnation and lives without consolation in this life. Nothing can console him. He is afraid of losing his life, suffers, goes to psychiatrists, who give him pills and advise him to have fun. He takes pills, gets stupid, and then goes back and forth to see the sights and forget the pain.”
And here is how Saint Innocent of Kherson wrote about this: “Do sinners who are not concerned about the salvation of their souls suffer from despondency? Yes, and most often, although, apparently, their life consists mostly of fun and pleasure. Even in all fairness, it can be said that internal discontent and secret melancholy are the constant lot of sinners. For conscience, no matter how much it is drowned out, like a worm, eats away at the heart. An involuntary, deep premonition of future judgment and retribution also disturbs the sinful soul and upsets for it the insane pleasures of sensuality. The most inveterate sinner at times feels that there is emptiness, darkness, ulcer and death inside him. Hence the irrepressible inclination of unbelievers to incessant entertainment, to forget themselves and be beside themselves.
What to say to unbelievers about their despondency? It is good for them; for it serves as a call and encouragement to repentance. And let them not think that any means will be found for them to free themselves from this spirit of despondency until they turn to the truth and correct themselves and their morals. Vanity pleasures and earthly joys will never fill the emptiness of the heart: our soul is more spacious than the whole world. On the contrary, as time goes on, carnal joys will lose their power to entertain and charm the soul and will turn into a source of mental heaviness and boredom.”
Someone may object: is every sad state really despondency? No, not everything. Sadness and grief, if they are not rooted in a person, are not a disease. They are inevitable on the difficult earthly path, as the Lord warned: “In the world you will have tribulation; but take heart: I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
The Monk John Cassian teaches that “in only one case should sadness be considered useful for us, when it arises from repentance of sins, or from the desire for perfection, or from contemplation of future bliss. The holy apostle says about it: “Sorrow for God’s sake produces unchangeable repentance leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow produces death” (2 Cor. 7:10). But this sadness, which produces repentance towards salvation, is obedient, friendly, humble, meek, pleasant, patient, as if it comes from love for God, and in some way cheerful, encouraging with the hope of its perfection. And demonic sadness can be very severe, impatient, cruel, combined with fruitless sadness and painful despair. Weakening the one subjected to it, it distracts from zeal and saving sorrow, like reckless... So, in addition to the above-mentioned good sorrow, which comes from saving repentance, or from zeal for perfection, or from the desire for future benefits, all sorrow, as worldly and causing death, must be rejected, expelled from our hearts."
The first consequence of despondency
As Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk rightly notes, from a practical point of view, this “worldly sadness is useless, for it cannot return or give a person anything of what he grieves over.”
But from the spiritual side it also brings great harm. “Avoid despondency, for it destroys all the fruits of asceticism,” the Monk Isaiah the Hermit said about this.
The Monk Isaiah wrote for monks, that is, for those who already know the basic principles of spiritual life, in particular that patiently enduring sorrows and self-restraint for the sake of God brings rich fruit in the form of cleansing the heart from sinful dirt.
How can despondency deprive a person of this fruit?
You can take a comparison from the world of sports. Any athlete has to endure hard work during training. And in wrestling sports you also have to experience real blows. And outside of training, the athlete seriously limits himself to food.
So, he can't eat what he wants, he can't go where he wants, and he has to do things that make him exhausted and cause real pain. However, with all this, if the athlete does not lose the goal for which he endures all this, then his perseverance is rewarded: the body becomes stronger and more resilient, patience tempers it and makes it stronger, more skillful, and as a result, he achieves his goal.
This happens to the body, but the same thing happens to the soul when it endures suffering or restrictions for the sake of God.
An athlete who has lost his goal, ceases to believe that he can achieve results, becomes despondent, training becomes meaningless torture for him, and even if he is forced to continue it, he will no longer become a champion, which means he will lose the fruit of all his labors which he voluntarily or unwittingly endured.
It can be assumed that a similar thing happens to the soul of a person who has fallen into despondency, and this will be fair, since despondency is a consequence of loss of faith, lack of faith. But this is only one side of the matter.
Another is that despondency often causes and is accompanied by murmuring. Murmuring manifests itself in the fact that a person shifts all responsibility for his suffering onto others, and ultimately onto God, while he considers himself to be innocently suffering and constantly complains and scolds those who, in his opinion, are to blame for his suffering - and there are more and more “guilty” people as a person sinks deeper and deeper into the sin of murmuring and becomes embittered.
This is the gravest sin and the greatest stupidity.
The essence of grumbling can be illustrated by a simple example. Here’s a man coming up to the socket, reading the inscription above it: “Don’t stick your fingers in - you’ll get an electric shock,” then he sticks his fingers into the socket - shock! - he flies to the opposite wall and begins to scream: “Oh, what a bad God! Why did He allow me to be electrocuted?! For what?! Why would I do this?! Oh, this God is to blame for everything!”
A person, of course, can start by swearing at the electrician, the outlet, the one who discovered electricity, and so on, but he will certainly end up blaming God. This is the essence of murmuring. This is a sin against God. And the one who grumbles about circumstances means by this that the One who sent these circumstances is to blame, although he could have made them different. That is why among those who grumble there are so many “offended by God,” and vice versa, “those who are offended by God” constantly grumble.
But, the question arises, did God force you to stick your fingers into the socket?
Murmuring reveals spiritual and psychological infantilism: a person refuses to accept responsibility for his actions, refuses to see that what is happening to him is a natural consequence of his actions, his choice, his whim. And instead of admitting the obvious, he begins to look for someone to blame, and the most patient, naturally, turns out to be the extreme one.
And it was precisely with this sin that the vegetation of humanity began. How was it? The Lord said: You can eat from any tree, but don’t eat from this one. There is only one commandment, and how simple it is. But the man went and ate it. God asked him: “Adam, why did you eat?” The Holy Fathers say that if at that moment our forefather had said: “I have sinned, Lord, forgive me, I’m guilty, it won’t happen again,” then there would have been no exile and the whole history of mankind would have been different. But instead Adam says: “What about me? I’m okay, this is all the wife you gave me...” That’s it! This is who first began to shift responsibility for his own actions to God!
Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise not for sin, but for their unwillingness to repent, which manifested itself in grumbling - against their neighbor and against God.
This is a great danger to the soul.
As St. Theophan the Recluse says, “shattered health can also shake salvation when grumbling speeches are heard from the lips of a sick person.” Likewise, the poor, if they are indignant and grumble because of poverty, will not receive forgiveness.
After all, grumbling does not relieve trouble, but only makes it worse, and humble submission to the determinations of God’s Providence and complacency take away the burden of trouble. Therefore, if a person, having encountered difficulties, does not complain, but praises God, then the devil bursts with anger and goes to someone else - to the one who complains, in order to cause him even greater trouble. After all, the more a person grumbles, the more he destroys himself.
The exact impact of these destructions is evidenced by the Monk John Climacus, who compiled the following spiritual portrait of the murmurer: “The murmurer, when given an order, contradicts and is unfit for action; Such a person does not even have a good disposition, because he is lazy, and laziness is inseparable from grumbling. He is resourceful and resourceful; and no one will surpass him in verbosity; he is always slandering one another. The murmurer is gloomy in charitable matters, incapable of receiving strangers, and hypocritical in love.”
It would be useful to give one example here. This story happened in the early 40s of the 19th century in one of the southern provinces of Russia.
One widow, a woman from the upper class, with two young daughters endured great need and grief, began to grumble first at people, and then at God. In this mood she fell ill and died. After the death of their mother, the situation for the two orphans became even more difficult. The eldest of them also could not resist grumbling and also fell ill and died. The younger sister grieved excessively both over the death of her mother and sister and over her extremely helpless situation. Finally, she too became seriously ill. And this girl saw in a spiritual vision heavenly villages filled with indescribable beauty and joy. Then she was shown terrible places of torment, and here she saw her sister and mother, and then heard a voice: “I sent them sorrows in their earthly life for their salvation; If they had endured everything with patience, humility and gratitude, they would have been granted eternal joy in the blessed villages you have seen. But with their grumbling they ruined everything, and for this they are now tormented. If you want to be with them, go and complain.” After this, the girl came to her senses and told those present about the vision.
Here, as in the example of the athlete: whoever sees a goal ahead, believes that it is achievable, and hopes that he personally can achieve it - he can endure hardships, restrictions, labor and pain. A Christian, who endures all those sorrows that an unbeliever or one of little faith presents as reasons for despondency, has a higher and more holy goal than any athlete.
It is known how great the saints are. Their exploits are recognized and respected even by many non-believers. There are different ranks of holiness, but among them the highest are martyrs, that is, those who accepted death for confessing Christ. The next rank after them is confessors. These are those who suffered for Christ, endured torture, but remained faithful to God. Of the confessors, many were thrown into prison, like Saint Theophan the Confessor; others had their hand and tongue cut off, like Saint Maximus the Confessor, or their eyes were torn out, like Saint Paphnutius the Confessor; still others were tortured, like Saint Theodore the Inscribed... And they endured all this for the sake of Christ. Great job!
Many will say that they, ordinary people, are unlikely to be able to do this. But in Orthodoxy there is one important principle that allows every person to become a saint and be numbered among the confessors: if someone glorifies and thanks God in misfortune, he bears the feat of a confessor. Here is how Elder Paisius the Svyatogorets speaks about it:
“Let's imagine that I was born crippled, without arms, without legs. Completely relaxed and can’t move. If I accept this with joy and praise, God will number me among the confessors. So little needs to be done for God to number me among the confessors! When I myself crash my car into a rock and accept what happened with joy, God will count me among the confessors. Well, what more could I want? Even the result of my own carelessness, if I accept it joyfully, God will recognize it.”
But a person who falls into despondency deprives himself of such a great opportunity and goal; it closes his spiritual eyes and plunges him into murmuring, which cannot help a person in any way, but brings a lot of harm.
The second consequence of despondency
This is the first consequence of despondency - grumbling. And if anything could be worse and more dangerous, then this is the second consequence, because of which the Monk Seraphim of Sarov said: “There is nothing worse than sin, and there is nothing more terrible and destructive than the spirit of despondency.”
“Despondency and incessant anxiety can crush the strength of the soul and bring it to extreme exhaustion,” testifies St. John Chrysostom.
This extreme exhaustion of the soul is called despair, and this is the second consequence of despondency, unless a person copes with this sin in time.
Here is how the holy fathers speak about this stage:
“Despair is called the gravest sin of all sins in the world, for this sin rejects the omnipotence of our Lord Christ, rejects the salvation He has given - it shows that arrogance and pride previously dominated in this soul, that faith and humility were alien to it” (St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) )).
“Satan maliciously tries to sadden many in order to plunge them into Gehenna with despair” (Reverend Ephraim the Syrian). “The spirit of despair brings the most severe torment. Despair is the most perfect joy for the devil” (Reverend Mark the Ascetic).
“Sin does not destroy as much as despair” (St. John Chrysostom). “To sin is a human matter, but to despair is satanic and destructive; and the devil himself was cast into destruction by despair, for he did not want to repent” (Rev. Nile of Sinai).
“The devil plunges us into thoughts of despair in order to destroy hope in God, this safe anchor, this support of our life, this guide on the path to Heaven, this salvation of perishing souls... The evil one does everything to instill in us the thoughts of despair. He will no longer need efforts and labors for our defeat, when those who have fallen and lie down do not want to resist him... and the soul, once despairing of its salvation, then no longer feels how it strives into the abyss” (St. John Chrysostom).
Despair already directly leads to death. It precedes suicide, the most terrible sin, which immediately sends a person to hell - a place far from God, where there is no light of God, and no joy, only darkness and eternal despair. Suicide is the only sin that cannot be forgiven, since the suicider cannot repent.
“During the free suffering of the Lord, two fell away from the Lord - Judas and Peter: one sold, and the other denied three times. Both had equal sin, both sinned grievously, but Peter was saved and Judas perished. Why weren’t both saved and why weren’t both killed? Some will say that Peter was saved by repenting. But the Holy Gospel says that Judas also repented: “... having repented, he returned the thirty pieces of silver to the high priests and elders, saying: I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27: 3-4); however, his repentance was not accepted, but Petrovo was accepted; Peter escaped, but Judas died. Why is this so? But because Peter repented with hope and hope for the mercy of God, but Judas repented with despair. This abyss is terrible! Without a doubt, it needs to be filled with hope for God’s mercy” (St. Demetrius of Rostov).
“Judas the traitor, having fallen into despair, “hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5). He knew the power of sin, but did not know the greatness of God's mercy. This is what many do today and follow Judas. They recognize the multitude of their sins, but do not recognize the multitude of God’s mercies, and so they despair of their salvation. Christian! the heavy and final blow of the devil is despair. He represents God as merciful before sin, and as just after sin. Such is his cunning” (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
Thus, tempting a person to sin, Satan instills in him the thoughts: “God is good, He will forgive,” and after the sin he tries to plunge him into despair, instilling completely different thoughts: “God is just, and He will punish you for what you have done.” . The devil inspires a person that he will never be able to get out of the pit of sin, will not be pardoned by God, will not be able to receive forgiveness and reform.
Despair is the death of hope. If it occurs, then only a miracle can save a person from suicide.
How despondency manifests itself and its products
Dejection manifests itself even in a person’s facial expressions and behavior: a facial expression that is called sad, drooping shoulders, a drooping head, a lack of interest in the environment and one’s condition. There may be a persistent decrease in blood pressure. Also characterized by lethargy and inertia of the soul. The good mood of others causes bewilderment, irritation and obvious or hidden protest in the sad person.
St. John Chrysostom said that “a soul overwhelmed by sadness cannot speak or listen to anything healthy,” and St. Neil of Sinai testified: “Just as a sick person cannot bear a heavy burden, so a sad person is unable to carefully fulfill God’s works; for this one’s bodily strength is in disarray, but this one has no spiritual strength left.”
According to the Monk John Cassian, such a state of a person “does not allow one to pray with the usual zeal of the heart, nor to engage in sacred reading with benefit, does not allow one to be calm and meek with brothers; makes one impatient and incapable of all the duties of work or worship, intoxicates feeling, crushes and suppresses with painful despair. Like a moth to clothing and a worm to a tree, so sadness harms a person’s heart.”
Further, the holy father lists the manifestations of this sinful painful state: “From despondency are born discontent, cowardice, irritability, idleness, drowsiness, restlessness, vagrancy, inconstancy of mind and body, talkativeness... Whoever it begins to overcome, it will force him to remain lazy, careless, without any spiritual success; then he will make you fickle, idle, and careless in every matter.”
These are the manifestations of despondency. And despair has even more severe manifestations. A person who is desperate, that is, who has lost hope, often indulges in drug addiction, drunkenness, fornication and many other obvious sins, believing himself to be already lost anyway. The extreme manifestation of despair, as already mentioned, is suicide.
Every year, a million people around the world commit suicide. It’s scary to think about this number, which exceeds the population of many countries.
In our country, the highest number of suicides was in 1995. Compared to this indicator, by 2008 it decreased by one and a half times, but Russia still remains among the countries with the highest suicide rate.
Indeed, more suicides occur in poor and disadvantaged countries than in rich and economically stable ones. This is not surprising, since in the former there are more reasons for despondency. But still, even the richest countries and the richest people are not free from this misfortune. Because under the external well-being, the soul of an unbeliever often feels even more acutely the painful emptiness and constant dissatisfaction, as was the case with that successful businessman whom we remembered at the beginning of the article.
But he can be saved from the terrible fate that befalls a million people every year by the special circumstance that he has and which many of those unfortunate people who drive themselves to the point of suicide in despair are deprived.
From what do despondency and its products arise?
Dejection arises from distrust of God, so we can say that it is the fruit of lack of faith.
But what, in turn, is distrust of God and lack of faith? It does not appear by itself, out of nowhere. It is a consequence of the fact that a person trusts himself too much, because he has too high an opinion of himself. And the more a person trusts himself, the less he trusts God. And trusting yourself more than God is the clearest sign of pride.
The first root of despondency is pride
Therefore, according to the Monk Anatoly of Optina, “despair is a product of pride. If you expect everything bad from yourself, then you will never despair, but only humble yourself and repent peacefully.” “Despair is an accuser of unbelief and selfishness in the heart: he who believes in himself and trusts in himself will not rise from sin by repentance” (St. Theophan the Recluse).
As soon as something happens in the life of a proud man that exposes his powerlessness and unfounded trust in himself, he immediately becomes despondent and despairs.
And this can happen for a variety of reasons: from offended pride or from something that is not done our way; also from vanity, when a person sees that his equals enjoy greater advantages than he; or from the constraining circumstances of life, as the Monk Ambrose of Optina testifies.
A humble person who believes in God knows that these unpleasant circumstances test and strengthen his faith, just as the muscles of an athlete are strengthened during training; he knows that God is near and that He will not test him more than he can bear. Such a person, who trusts in God, never loses heart even in difficult circumstances.
The proud man, who relied on himself, as soon as he finds himself in difficult circumstances that he himself is unable to change, immediately becomes despondent, thinking that if he cannot correct what happened, then no one can correct it; and at the same time he is sad and irritated because these circumstances have shown him his own weakness, which a proud man cannot bear calmly.
Precisely because despondency and despair are a consequence and, in a certain sense, a demonstration of unbelief in God, one of the saints said: “In a moment of despair, know that it is not the Lord who leaves you, but you the Lord!”
So, pride and lack of faith are one of the main causes of despondency and despair, but still far from the only ones.
St. John Climacus speaks of two main types of despair, arising from different reasons: “There is despair that comes from a multitude of sins and aggravation of conscience and unbearable sadness, when the soul, due to the multitude of these ulcers, plunges and, from the severity of them, drowns in the depths of hopelessness. But there is another type of despair, which comes from pride and exaltation, when the fallen think that they did not deserve their fall... The first is cured by abstinence and trustworthiness; and from the latter - humility and not judging anyone.”
The second root of despondency is dissatisfaction of passions
So, as for the second type of despair, which comes from pride, we have already shown above what its mechanism is. What is meant by the first type, “coming from a multitude of sins”?
This type of despondency, according to the holy fathers, comes when any passion has not found satisfaction. As the Monk John Cassian writes, despondency “is born from the dissatisfaction of the desire for some kind of self-interest, when someone sees that he has lost the hope born in his mind to receive some things.”
For example, a glutton suffering from peptic ulcers or diabetes will be depressed because he cannot enjoy the desired amount of food or the variety of its taste; a stingy person - because he cannot avoid spending money, and so on. Despondency is accompanied by almost any unsatisfied sinful desires, if a person does not renounce them for one reason or another.
Therefore, St. Neil of Sinai says: “Whoever is bound by sadness is overcome by passions, because sadness is a consequence of failure in carnal desire, and desire is associated with every passion. He who has conquered passions is not overcome by sadness. Just as a sick person is visible by his complexion, so a passionate person is revealed by sadness. He who loves the world will grieve much. And whoever does not care about what is in the world will always have fun.”
As despondency increases in a person, specific desires lose their meaning, and what remains is a state of mind that seeks out precisely those desires that cannot be achieved, precisely to feed the despondency itself.
Then, according to the testimony of the Monk John Cassian, “we are subjected to such grief that we cannot receive even our kind persons and relatives with usual friendliness, and no matter what they say in a decent conversation, everything seems untimely and unnecessary to us, and we do not give a pleasant answer to them, when all the bends of our heart are filled with bilious bitterness.”
That’s why despondency is like a swamp: the longer a person plunges into it, the harder it is for him to get out of it.
Other roots of despondency
The reasons that arouse despondency in non-believers and people of little faith have been described above. However, despondency attacks, although less successfully, on believers. But for other reasons. Saint Innocent of Kherson writes in detail about these reasons:
“There are many sources of despondency - both external and internal.
Firstly, in souls that are pure and close to perfection, despondency can occur from their abandonment for a time by the grace of God. The state of grace is the most blissful. But so that the one in this state does not imagine that it comes from his own perfections, grace sometimes withdraws, leaving his favorite to himself. Then the same thing happens to the holy soul as if midnight had come in the middle of the day: darkness, coldness, deadness and at the same time despondency appear in the soul.
Secondly, despondency, as people experienced in spiritual life testify, comes from the action of the spirit of darkness. Unable to deceive the soul on the way to heaven with the blessings and pleasures of the world, the enemy of salvation turns to the opposite means and brings despondency into it. In this state, the soul is like a traveler suddenly caught in darkness and fog: it sees neither what is ahead nor what is behind; doesn't know what to do; loses vigor, falls into indecision.
The third source of despondency is our fallen, unclean, weakened nature, deadened by sin. As long as we act out of self-love, are filled with the spirit of peace and passions, until then this nature in us is cheerful and alive. But change the direction of life, get off the broad path of the world onto the narrow path of Christian self-sacrifice, take up repentance and self-correction - immediately an emptiness will open inside you, spiritual impotence will be revealed, and heartfelt deadness will be felt. Until the soul has time to be filled with a new spirit of love for God and neighbor, then the spirit of despondency, to a greater or lesser extent, is inevitable for it. Sinners are most subject to this kind of despondency after their conversion.
The fourth, ordinary source of spiritual despondency, is lack, especially cessation of activity. Having stopped using its strengths and abilities, the soul loses vitality and vigor, becomes sluggish; the very previous activities contradict her: discontent and boredom appear.
Dejection can also occur from various sad events in life, such as: the death of relatives and loved ones, loss of honor, property and other unfortunate adventures. All this, according to the law of our nature, is associated with unpleasantness and sadness for us; but, according to the law of nature itself, this sadness should decrease over time and disappear when a person does not indulge in sadness. Otherwise, a spirit of despondency will be formed.
Dejection can also occur from certain thoughts, especially gloomy and heavy ones, when the soul is too indulged in such thoughts and looks at objects not in the light of faith and the Gospel. So, for example, a person can easily become despondent from frequent reflection on the untruth that prevails in the world, on how the righteous here grieve and suffer, while the wicked are exalted and blissful.
Finally, the source of spiritual despondency can be various painful conditions of the body, especially some of its members.”
How to deal with despondency and its consequences
The great Russian saint, Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, said: “You need to remove despondency from yourself and try to have a joyful spirit, not a sad one. According to Sirach, “sorrow has killed many, but there is no benefit in it (Sir. 31:25).”
But how exactly can you remove despondency from yourself?
Let us remember the unhappy young businessman mentioned at the beginning of the article, who for many years could not do anything about the despondency that gripped him. From his own experience he was convinced of the truth of the words of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov): “Earthly entertainments only drown out sorrow, but do not destroy it: they fell silent, and again sorrow, rested and, as if strengthened by rest, begins to act with greater force.”
Now it’s time to tell you in more detail about that special circumstance in the life of this businessman, which we mentioned earlier.
His wife is a deeply religious person, and she is free from that gloomy, impenetrable melancholy that shrouds her husband’s life. He knows that she is a believer, that she goes to church and reads Orthodox books, and that she does not have “depression.” But in all the years that they were together, it never occurred to him to connect these facts together and try to go to church himself, read the Gospel... He still regularly goes to a psychologist, receiving short-term relief, but not healing.
How many people are exhausted from this mental illness, not wanting to believe that healing is very close. And this businessman, unfortunately, is one of them. We would like to write that one fine day he became interested in faith, which gives his wife the strength not to succumb to despondency and maintain the pure joy of life. But, alas, this has not happened yet. And until then, he will remain among those unfortunates about whom St. Demetrius of Rostov said: “The righteous have no sadness that does not turn into joy, just as sinners have no joy that does not turn into sadness.”
But if suddenly this businessman turned to the treasury of the Orthodox faith, what would he learn about his condition and what methods of healing would he receive?
He would have learned, among other things, that there is a spiritual reality in the world and there are spiritual beings at work: good ones - angels and evil ones - demons. The latter, in their malice, strive to cause as much harm as possible to a person’s soul, turning him away from God and from the path to salvation. These are enemies who seek to kill a person both spiritually and physically. For their purposes, they use different methods, among them the most common is instilling certain thoughts and feelings in people. Including thoughts of despondency and despair.
The trick is that demons try to convince a person that these are his own thoughts. A person who is an unbeliever or has little faith is completely unprepared for such a temptation and does not know how to relate to such thoughts; he actually accepts them as his own. And, following them, he comes closer and closer to death - in the same way, a traveler in the desert, mistaking a mirage for a true vision, begins to chase him and goes further and further into the depths of the lifeless desert.
A believer and spiritually experienced person knows about the existence of the enemy and about his tricks, knows how to recognize his thoughts and cut them off, thereby successfully confronting demons and defeating them.
A sad person is not the one who experiences thoughts of despondency from time to time, but the one who is overcome by them and does not fight. And vice versa, free from despondency is not the one who has never experienced such thoughts - there are no such people on earth, but the one who fights with them and defeats them.
Saint John Chrysostom said: “Excessive despondency is more harmful than any demonic action, because even if demons rule in someone, they rule through despondency.”
But if a person is deeply struck by the spirit of despondency, if the demons have gained such power in him, then it means that the person himself has done something that gave them such power over him.
It was already said above that one of the reasons for despondency among non-believers is the lack of faith in God and, accordingly, the lack of a living connection with Him, the source of all joy and good. But lack of faith is rarely something innate to a person.
Unrepentant sin kills faith in a person. If a person sins and does not want to repent and renounce sin, then sooner or later he inevitably loses faith.
Conversely, faith is resurrected in sincere repentance and confession of sins.
Non-believers deprive themselves of the two most effective ways to combat depression - repentance and prayer. “Prayer and constant meditation on God serve to destroy despondency,” writes St. Ephraim the Syrian.
It is worth giving a list of the main means of combating despondency that a Christian has. Saint Innocent of Kherson speaks about them:
“No matter what causes despondency, prayer is always the first and last remedy against it. In prayer, a person stands directly in the face of God: but if, standing against the sun, one cannot help but be illuminated by light and feel warmth, much less spiritual light and warmth are the direct consequences of prayer. In addition, prayer attracts grace and help from above, from the Holy Spirit, and where the Comforter Spirit is, there is no place for despondency, there sorrow itself will be turned into sweetness.
Reading or listening to the word of God, especially the New Testament, is also a powerful remedy against despondency. It was not in vain that the Savior called to Himself all those who labored and were burdened, promising them peace and joy. He did not take this joy with Him to heaven, but left it entirely in the Gospel for all those who mourn and are discouraged in spirit. He who is imbued with the spirit of the Gospel ceases to grieve joylessly: for the spirit of the Gospel is the spirit of peace, tranquility and consolation.
Divine services, and especially the holy sacraments of the Church, are also a great medicine against the spirit of despondency, for in the church, as the house of God, there is no place for it; The sacraments are all directed against the spirit of darkness and the weaknesses of our nature, especially the sacrament of confession and communion. By laying aside the burden of sins through confession, the soul feels lightness and cheerfulness, and by receiving the flesh of the Lord’s body and blood in the Eucharist, it feels revived and joyful.
Conversations with people rich in the Christian spirit are also a remedy against despondency. In an interview, we generally emerge more or less from the gloomy inner depths into which the soul plunges from despondency; In addition, through the exchange of thoughts and feelings in an interview, we borrow from those talking to us a certain strength and vitality, which is so necessary in a state of despondency.
Thinking about comforting objects. For a thought in a sad state either does not act at all, or circles around sad objects. To get rid of despondency, you need to force yourself to think about the opposite.
Engaging yourself in physical labor also drives away despondency. Let him begin to work, even reluctantly; let him continue the work, although without success: from movement, first the body comes to life, and then the spirit, and you will feel vigor; in the midst of work, the thought will quietly turn away from objects that make me sad, and this already means a lot in a state of despondency.”
In contact with
Representatives of Orthodoxy have always believed that depression is one of the mortal sins of man. They call it despondency and have been accumulating remedies for it for centuries. Therefore, in tradition there are many icons and prayers that are directed against despondency, sadness and despair. Even though a sin is mortal, this does not mean that it cannot be forgiven. On the contrary, if the patient himself believes that he has done something terrible, everything is bad with him and there will never be forgiveness, then he is playing in favor of the demons, who inspire such thoughts.
Prayer can help you overcome depression
Only for believers
Forgiveness comes, which means - prayer for depression has a positive effect if the reader believes in God the Father and Jesus Christ, is baptized, has received communion in church, has confessed and reads it with his soul. Then prayer gains power. If you read it without this, then nothing bad will happen. Nothing will just happen at all. When prayer has become smart, it transforms the believer. The Jesus Prayer is no less powerful than special prayers. The simpler it is, the easier it is to remember and pronounce, the more grace the prayer will create.
How does Orthodoxy explain depression? It is believed that a person suffers from it because of pride, which arises when he forgets about God. It leads to the emergence of passions and the creation becomes clouded.
When prayer begins out of despondency and depression, a person turns his mind towards God and thus becomes closer to grace. Ultimate healing depends only on God.
Not like in official medicine
This is the complete opposite of the approach of official psychology. Even if we forget about who performs the healing from the point of view of the Orthodox, then the reasons themselves are different. In modern pathopsychology, several varieties and degrees of severity are distinguished. Doctors are well aware of the existence of depression, which comes from within the mind and has no visible or understandable causes. However, treatment is mostly symptomatic.
Medications alone cannot cure depression.
Antidepressants affect the brain and nervous system in such a way that vigor and optimism appear, and positive assessments arise. Only extremely rarely does a state without sadness and grief last for a very long time. The disease is treatable, but often medications have to be used again. This is the most common mental disorder. It is not entirely clear how this fits with claims that recovery is not difficult.
Buddhism and Hinduism against depression
Buddhism pays no less attention to the topic. In general, the view on the problem is similar. Depression is seen as an extreme form of ignorance. Buddhists believe that the main problem is duality. Man strives to divide everything into “good” and “bad.” He wants to appropriate the good for himself, and push away the bad, or what appears to be bad. But this is impossible, since such division exists only in the human mind.
It is impossible to say which mantra for depression is recommended by the lamas. All are good because reading them brings peace to the mind and clears the consciousness. One can use the Medicine Buddha or Diamond Mind mantra, Om Mani Pedme Hung, which is the name of Chenrezig. As in Christianity, the Dharma does not recommend doing this just like that, without dedication and without having an idea about Buddhism itself.
Hindu mantras can also serve well, for example, Gayatri or the “So-Ham” breathing mantra.
Hindu mantras can help overcome despair
It should be noted that modern psychiatry does not consider this path to be vicious only for the reason that it is not scientific, or rather, it is not written off within the rigid boundaries of medicine. If doctors recommend something like that, it’s completely private.
In addition, religious propaganda is now prohibited in Russia. It is possible that attempts to create a synthesis of science and religion, which would answer the question of how to get rid of despondency and depression, could be called a violation of the law.
Once upon a time, official psychology itself emerged from the foundations of esotericism, magic, mysticism and philosophy, religion. But now this connection is possible only at the level of conversations and recommendations. Some psychologists are trying to develop something of their own. Meditation for stress and depression or something similar may be suggested. Some dare to try yoga, but no one can say that healing depends on God and you need to do mental prayer in the heart.
Who do Orthodox Christians pray to?
Let's return to Orthodoxy. To whom is a prayer read for despondency and depression?
- The prayer of the Mother of God, which is called “Unexpected Joy,” is considered the most powerful. The iconography of the image is associated with a story about a sinner who prayed to God’s joy every day, and then went to commit evil deeds. One day the Mother appeared before her with the Child of God in her arms and began to reproach. The sinner repented, but Christ did not forgive twice. He will set the conditions - to kiss the sores on the hands and feet, which symbolized the wounds received on the cross. The sinner was forgiven and became a right person.
- Holy Martyr Tryphon. Turning to it helps not only to cure neuroses, psychoses, but also many other diseases. He lived around 240-250 and, as a child, saved entire villages from troubles and epidemics with his prayers.
- St. Ephraim the Syrian is one of the teachers of the 4th century church, theologian and poet.
- Nikolai Ugodnik.
- Barbara the Great Martyr.
- Righteous John of Kronstadt.
The position of Orthodoxy on the issue of how to overcome depression, despondency and melancholy is extremely disappointing for materialists and atheists. Believers believe that it arises as one of the ways to abandon lies and come to the truth. This means that no methods of drug treatment, as well as anything that has nothing to do with faith, can help. Vanity pleasures are not able to give pleasure from unity with God, but only increase the amount of inner emptiness. Therefore, medical treatment even intensifies the torture of the spirit. A person becomes despondent, his signs disappear, his lifestyle remains the same, and then everything repeats.
At the same time, Orthodoxy does not claim that antidepressants are evil. While they are in action, you can try to comprehend your condition and begin to move towards God.
Magic and esotericism
Oddly enough, depression is assessed in almost the same way by esotericism. The only difference is that there are two points of view and there is no contradiction between them. Magic and mysticism sees deviation as a problem because it can provoke more serious illnesses. These are phobias, psychoses and even paranoid schizophrenia. On the other hand, internal grief distracts you from the outside world and makes you more attentive to your psyche. In addition, illness is evidence of a crisis, which means that a person is growing, because everything that develops sooner or later ends up in a situation of crisis.
Beware of energy vampires!
One of the possible reasons stands out attack from astral “bullies”. These are all sorts of entities that feed on the energy of people - vampires of the subtle plane. This in itself gives a reason to try not only to read a spell for depression, but also to install energy protection, which may be your first magical experience. Christians once upon a time considered this approach sinful. They pray to God, who protects best of all, to the saints, to the angels. Although making the sign of the Cross can also be considered an attempt to build protection. And religion sometimes correlates neurosis with the manifestation of demonic forces. In general, these are the same astral characters of magicians.
The original approach of the Yaqui shamans
The magicians described in his books by Carlos Castaneda have an interesting approach to the question of how to overcome depression and despondency. In one of them, he describes his life as the most obvious state of depression. He broke up with his beloved, watched all the films, re-read all the books and simply couldn’t find where to put himself. This happened due to the fact that he had lost contact with the Spirit - the enormous power of this world. However, the Spirit makes it so that Castaneda meets the old Mexican Indian Don Juan Matus. He begins to make Castaneda’s consciousness more plastic. First, some natural herbal narcotic drugs are used for this, and then the study of stalking, dreaming, and the development of shamanic practices begins. Not a single prayer has been read for depression and despair, but for just a few years the author becomes a different person. He writes books about his training, masters amazing techniques of not doing and doing, and learns the explanations of magicians in theory and practice. As a result, life turns into a “fairy tale” full of danger and adventure.
Don Juan tells Castaneda that you need to live in such a way that you never know from behind which bush a rabbit will jump out.
Don Juan told Castaneda how to deal with depression
Some rules of thumb
It is not necessary to use all of Castaneda's methods, but one set of rules and practices must be used. This stalking, which represents stalking oneself. Here are his main 7 rules and principles. Anyone who can live like this will learn from their own experience how to overcome depression and despondency.
- You need to choose the place of battle yourself. If you experience discomfort from mental problems, then you need to understand where you will now find yourself. In an armchair and will you watch TV with a sad look? This place was chosen for you by illness. It will be bad, but try to make it happen in a park or grove. So, wherever you personally want.
- Everything unnecessary should be discarded. Melancholy means melancholy, panic means panic. There's no need to complicate this.
- You must be ready to fight for your health right now. But you don't have to and can walk away from the battle. Everything depends on you.
- You need to learn to relax and abstract yourself from yourself. This gives fearlessness.
- When faced with the manifestation of an illness, you need to relax and do something else. At the same time, you need to allow your thoughts to wander aimlessly and not solve any problems.
- Those who know how to compress time have a great gift. This means that you need to be aware of yourself and everything around you every second of your existence.
- You should never put yourself first. Instead, you should take a position somewhere behind the stage and watch events unfold.
In this context, you can create your own special technique. Such meditation for depression should be funny, ridiculous, unexpected and therefore effective. In the stalking system, this is called “controlled stupidity.” The point is that we are always filled with importance and expect some kind of prayer for depression to appear - powerful, beautiful, filling everything with meaning. This approach does not always work. Sometimes it even brings the opposite effect. Depression is inside the consciousness, and an artificial search for strength can strengthen it. Try playing with it. For example, describe your experiences and immediately make paper airplanes out of them and send them out the windows. Picture depression as something beautiful and pleasant. To surprise herself...
Come up with a cheerful ritual of contemplating illness in the form of a heron that stands on one leg and sings funny couplets. There is no point in all this. And you didn’t expect it, because ordinary people work only when it gives them benefit, and you can do it anyway.
Contemplate illness like a heron on one leg
Unexpected decisions
Whatever gentlemen psychologists might think, they don’t know 100% how to overcome despondency and depression, so let’s not rely only on a standard medical approach or on a conspiracy for depression, which you need to read three times a day, and everything will go away. There is no absolute certainty, so you can relax. If we don’t cure it, then at least we’ll have fun.
The methods and principles mentioned in this article are not universal. Human development takes a difficult path. Someone is simply not yet ready to perceive Christian truths. There is no need to blindly rush to surround yourself with theological literature. A prayer for neurosis that would help a person with one character would be inappropriate in the mouth of another. But the runes against depression will also help him.
Let's try to highlight the main complexity of this topic. It seems that God is our heavenly Father who loves and saves. This is so, all believers are convinced of this, but sometimes it’s not so easy to say “ I place my hopes in You. I myself am helpless and insignificant. Help me God and free me from fear" We think that we will succeed, but here’s the twist - we need to admit out loud our insignificance. Nevertheless, this is the most powerful prayer for panic attacks.
Turning to magic to treat panic can harm yourself
No less disappointment is hidden by magic, which even appreciates panic attacks. Esotericism of any school is a complete destruction of stereotypes. The master will tell you that you need to concentrate on the body and be aware of it. The person who is affected by the attack is trying to avoid this, because the body sends too many alarming signals. The concept of “entering your fear” suddenly turns out to be not some kind of meditation in which it is cut out and thrown away, but a close observation of everything that happens to the body and consciousness. However, there is good news. The palette of possibilities is so rich that everyone can choose something.
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