Anxiety and By Emilyann Pool
The S
“Can’t you just...stop being anxious?”“Just smile
and you’ll feel better!”“Have you tried this homeopathic remedy?”“It’s not like you’re a starving kid in Africa. Count your blessings.”“You probably don’t pray enough.”“Just read the Bible more.”“Do you think the reason you have anxiety is because you don’t trust God enough?” “Is it a gluten allergy?”
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I have heard all these remarks and more since I started experiencing panic attacks brought on anxiety. Advice from friends, family, teachers, pastors, and counselors (most well-meaning) all ended with Law: just do this and your life will be better. But as Lutherans, we know that life—and anxiety—doesn’t work like that. The Scriptures tell us that we sin in what we do and don’t do. However, we must not forget that sin is primarily a condition. All illness is a part of this world—not necessarily as God’s judgment on our personal sins, but
because the whole world fell under the curse of the Fall (John 9:1-5). One of the ways we experience our sinful condition, or the world’s fallenness, is through feelings of anxiety and depression that affect both body and mind. God has made man so that the body and the mind are intertwined. And yet, we’ve adopted the Platonic (and pagan) idea that our mind and bodies have little to do with each other. We are not disembodied beings. On the contrary, the Scriptures tell us of the relationship between our mind and our matter (Genesis 1:27; 2:7; I Corinthians
6:19-20; 15:40-49; I Thessalonians 5:23). Just as everyone experiences some sort of physical sickness in this his life, every human has experienced some form of mental and emotional ailment like anxiety or depression—whether for a lifetime or just a season. For many of us, anxiety or depression is triggered by an event or an experience: the loss of a loved one, financial worries, a breakup, divorce, a sin we commit, or a sin committed against us. But some of us experience anxiety due to hormonal imbalances and defective nervous systems, and so it is a battle we fight our whole lives. The physical symptoms of anxiety and depression should be diagnosed and treated by doctors and therapists. Just like you wouldn’t go months without seeing a doctor for a persistent fever, you should not ignore your anxiety or decide to self-medicate through unhealthy and destructive habits. Reach out for the daily bread that God has given you in experts who can help. If you are uncertain about any advice you are given, take it to a parent or pastor. However, not every symptom of anxiety can be remedied by medication or counseling. As Christians we are given particular insight into the spiritual side of anxiety. As Lutherans, specifically, we are well-equipped with an entire arsenal for handling the spiritual symptoms of anxiety. We call these weapons the Sacraments.
Baptism When anxiety blurs our identity, Holy Baptism roots us in our identity as
