Engage (25 minutes)
Activity 1: What Manner of Sadness Is This?
- Tell students that you are going to make a statement. Tell them if they have ever felt like that to raise their hand. Say the following statements without revealing who says them. After each statement, wait for students to raise their hand.
Depressive Statements from David: “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” Psalms 38:4
Depressive Statements from Job
- “I have no peace, no quietness, I have no rest, but only turmoil.” Job 3:26
- “I loathe my very life, therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.” Job 10:1
- “Terrors overwhelm me…my life ebbs away, days of suffering grip me. Night pierces my bones, my gnawing pains never rest.” Job 30:15-17
Depressive Statement from the Prophet Elijah: “I have had enough Lord, he said. Take my life, I am not better than my ancestors.” 1 Kings 19:4
Depressive Statement from the Prophet Jeremiah: “Cursed be the day I was born…why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” Jeremiah 20:14,18
- Tell students that each of these are statements come directly from the Bible. They are expressed by well-known people in the Bible like David, Job, Elijah, and Jeremiah.
- Ask students to raise their hand if they already knew that depression existed for a long time, even in the Bible.
- Tell students that depression does not make someone a “bad” person, but it lets us know that they are walking through a challenging season emotionally and may need our support and friendship in order to overcome any feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, which is often associated with depression.
Activity 2: Diagnosing Jonah
- Tell students that we are going to explore depression in the Bible by looking at the life of Jonah. Invite them to read the story of Jonah, particularly Jonah 4. Reading the story can be done in a large group or in small groups. As they read Jonah invite them to respond the following questions: What makes you think your biblical character might be depressed?
- Remind students that in earlier discussions you had about symptoms of depression and suicide. Invite them to think about these discussions to see if any of these symptoms match what they observe in Jonah.
- Does the Bible say anything about how the character might look that might indicate depression?
- What is the character saying that indicates he or might be depressed?
- Is your character exhibiting behavioral signs that might indicate depression?
- How is your character relating to God in this story?
Friendly Interventions Role Play
- If you were Jonah’s friend, what would you do? What would you say.
- In groups of 2, role play before the larger group what you might do and say to Jonah if you were his friend.
- At the end of the role play, share with students that if they ever have a friend who is depressed that they can make a difference in their friend’s lives but they should never feel the burden of walking their friends through darkness alone.