When I first sought help for depression, I was resistant to drugs. I thought it might just be an easy way out. After all I didn’t hallucinate like my mother and I wasn’t paranoid like my ex-husband. It wasn’t clear to me that I really “needed” the medications. Then the doctor explained that I had a chemical imbalance and asked me, “Why suffer if you don’t have to?”
It made sense. Enduring needless suffering seemed to be the very definition of insanity. It was the idea that my emotional struggles were for nothing that finally convinced me to swallow the pills. If we view emotional pain and suffering as pointless then it makes sense to dispel it as quickly as possible even if that means poisoning it away with a questionably therapeutic substance.
What I’ve learned through the process of withdrawal is that suffering, at least for me, is never needless. My darkest hours have offered an opportunity to commune with the divine, and I always arrive on the other side clearer, calmer and more joyful. When I removed the possibility of chemical relief from my consciousness, I had to open myself up to the redemptive power of suffering.
In every religious and mythological tradition throughout history suffering has played an important role in creating purpose, peace and fulfillment in the human soul.
The Apostle Paul spoke at length about his own suffering and admonished the early Christians not to lose faith in the face of their own. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17)
The German minister Dietrich Bonhoeffer who died in a Nazi concentration camp said, “Suffering is overcome by suffering, and becomes the way to communication with God.”
Dr. Martin Luther King writes, “Generously endured suffering for the sake of the other has tremendous educational and transforming possibilities.”
Buddha tells us “Pain makes you stronger. Fear makes you braver. Heartbreak makes you wiser.”
“When God desires the redemption of His people, He causes them to suffer in this world.” These are the words of the Prophet Muhammad.
In the midst of emotional suffering as the walls of depression and anxiety close in around me, my primal reaction is to fight-to dispel these painful feelings as quickly and completely as possible, but if I take a moment to reflect on them and consider what they are trying to show me, I often find they contain an important lesson that leads to growth and greater emotional health.
Suffering and redemption. Suffering and growth. Suffering is never pointless. It is always redeeming if we choose to let it be so.