For many people, recognizing and admitting to feeling depressed still carries a stigma, a kind of shame. People who are depressed have been pictured as weak, incapable of handling what life has thrown at them or even perhaps too lazy to rise above their circumstances and “get on with it.”
Particularly in the Christian community, it seems people have heard the message that depression is a result of not praying enough, having enough faith or serving God enough – “good Christians don’t get depressed.”