Mental Health and Depression

       When it comes to mental health, I can not say that I have ever had a sevier case of depression. Some medium dives into the slumms of sadness but nothing to large. Like the first quote  I have listed below says, all I had to do was focus back to the fact that god wants me to be happy! After all it is some times called the plan of happiness. I can also empathize with those who have or have had seviour depression. I have seen its effects in the lives of friends and family memebers. Someetimes those types of depression, can not be fully remedies with the standard mormon answers. Mental illness or sickness is a problem with the pyisical brain structure. Spiritual sickness is a problem with a mall nurished or mal treated spirit. It is truly hard to diagnose which is which with people but I believe they are different. Some damage to a spirit can be so deep or so bad it takes year to mend its effects and the scar often remains as a daily reminder. Through the atonement all can be made free to experience joy in this life.

These quptes may be helpful for a friend you know. Copy and post them to a Social media site to share the good word. 

I do not wish to minimize the reality of clinical depression. For some, solutions to depression and anxieties will be found through consultation with competent professionals. But for most of us, sadness and fear begin to melt away and are replaced by happiness and peace when we put our trust in the Author of the plan of happiness and when we develop faith in the Prince of Peace.

Wilford W. Andersen
The Rock of Our Redeemer
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/04/the-rock-of-our-redeemer?lang=eng

I speak to you who find yourselves caught in a pattern of life that you neither enjoy nor want. You may publicly profess that all is well and reject the efforts of others to help you with a comment that you know what you are doing and can handle it yourself. Yet, in quiet moments, you know you are miserable, lonely, and sometimes afraid. You avoid thinking too much about what you are doing. The walls seem to close in around you. You are driven by appetites that bring momentary physical response but are followed by periods of deep depression. Let me help you as we reason together.
I need not define your specific problem to help you overcome it. It doesn’t matter what it is. If it violates the commandments of the Lord, it comes from Satan, and the Lord can overcome all of Satan’s influence through your application of righteous principles.

Elder Richard G. Scott

Finding the Way Back
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1990/04/finding-the-way-back?lang=eng

Brethren, you have noticed that I am not discussing the effects of pornography on mental health or criminal behavior. I am discussing its effects on spirituality--on our ability to have the companionship of the Spirit of the Lord and our capacity to exercise the power of the priesthood

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Pornography
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/pornography?lang=eng

The challenges we face today are in their own way comparable to challenges of the past. The recent economic crisis has caused significant concern throughout the world. Employment and financial problems are not unusual. Many people have physical and mental health challenges. Others deal with marital problems or wayward children. Some have lost loved ones. Addictions and inappropriate or harmful propensities cause heartache. Whatever the source of the trials, they cause significant pain and suffering for individuals and those who love them.

Elder Quentin L. Cook
“Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time”
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/hope-ya-know-we-had-a-hard-time?lang=eng

So how do you best respond when mental or emotional challenges confront you or those you love? Above all, never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend. As President Monson said to the Relief Society sisters so movingly last Saturday evening: “That love never changes. … It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve [it]. It is simply always there.”4 Never, ever doubt that, and never harden your heart. Faithfully pursue the time-tested devotional practices that bring the Spirit of the Lord into your life. Seek the counsel of those who hold keys for your spiritual well-being. Ask for and cherish priesthood blessings. Take the sacrament every week, and hold fast to the perfecting promises of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Believe in miracles. I have seen so many of them come when every other indication would say that hope was lost. Hope is never lost. If those miracles do not come soon or fully or seemingly at all, remember the Savior’s own anguished example: if the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead.5

Elder Jeffery R. Holland
Like a Broken Vessel
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/like-a-broken-vessel?lang=eng

Mary continues: “One Sunday evening I was taking a walk with my friend. … I was reminded of [my husband’s] absence and my intense loneliness, and as I wept bitterly I could see, as it were in mental vision, the steep hill of life I should have to climb and felt the reality of it with great force. A deep depression settled upon me, for the enemy knows when to attack us, but our [Savior, Jesus Christ,] is mighty to save. Through … the help given of the Father, I was able to battle with all the force which seemed to be arrayed against me at this time.”8
Mary learned at the tender age of 19 that the Atonement gives us the assurance that all things that are unfair in this life can and will be made right--even the deepest sorrows.

Linda K. Burton
Is Faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ Written in Our Hearts?
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/is-faith-in-the-atonement-of-jesus-christ-written-in-our-hearts?lang=eng

Those who live the celestial principles found in the scriptures give comfort to those who suffer. They bring joy to those who are depressed, direction to those who are lost, peace to those who are distressed, and a sure guidance to those who seek the truth.

Elder Enrique R. Falabella
The Home: The School of Life
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/the-home-the-school-of-life?lang=eng

We live in the perilous times prophesied by the Apostle Paul (see 2 Timothy 3:1). Those who try to walk the straight and narrow path see inviting detours on every hand. We can be distracted, degraded, downhearted, or depressed. How can we have the Spirit of the Lord to guide our choices and keep us on the path?
In modern revelation the Lord gave the answer in this commandment:
“And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;
“For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High” (D&C 59:9–10).
This is a commandment with a promise. By participating weekly and appropriately in the ordinance of the sacrament we qualify for the promise that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77). That Spirit is the foundation of our testimony. It testifies of the Father and the Son, brings all things to our remembrance, and leads us into truth. It is the compass to guide us on our path. This gift of the Holy Ghost, President Wilford Woodruff taught, “is the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man” (Deseret Weekly, Apr. 6, 1889, 451).

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/sacrament-meeting-and-the-sacrament?lang=eng

Some, because they lack faith or understanding of the eternal plan, become bitter and lose hope. One such was a 19th-century writer who achieved both success and wealth with his dazzling wit and writing style. His wife came from a religious family, and he wanted to have faith in God but wasn’t really sure God existed. Then he was hit by a series of crushing blows. In 1893 a national financial crisis left him deeply in debt. His oldest daughter died while he was on a speaking tour. His wife’s health failed, and she died in 1904. His youngest daughter died in 1909. His own health declined. His writing, which had formerly been so full of sparkle, now reflected his bitterness. He became progressively depressed, cynical, and disillusioned and remained so until his death in 1910. With all his brilliance, he lacked the inner strength to deal with adversity and simply resigned himself to his misfortunes.

Elder James E. Faust
Where Do I Make My Stand?
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/10/where-do-i-make-my-stand?lang=eng

We may think that women are more likely than men to have feelings of inadequacy and disappointment--that these feelings affect them more than us. I’m not sure that this is true. Men experience feelings of guilt, depression, and failure. We might pretend these feelings don’t bother us, but they do. We can feel so burdened by our failures and shortcomings that we begin to think we will never be able to succeed. We might even assume that because we have fallen before, falling is our destiny. As one writer put it, “We beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”1

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

You Can Do It Now!
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/you-can-do-it-now?lang=eng