The Truth About Stress and Anxiety

Job 1

Introduction

• Last week we talked about what I believe is an insidious plot by the enemy to dehumanize mankind through what we called REDUCTIONISM.
• Another thing we are seeing in our culture is a tremendous explosion of mental illness.
• We are living with more and more anxiety and stress all the time.
• The answer that we have come up with is to medicate; and the drug manufacturers love it.
• If you have anxiety, you can take benzodiazepines marketed under the names Klonopin, Ativan, Xanax, or Valium. These medicines have often historically been referred to as sedatives or nerve-calming drugs.
• If you have depression, you can take Cymbalta or Lexapro or Zoloft or Prozac or any number of other similar drugs. These drugs inhibit the reuptake or absorption of serotonin and/or epinephrine that chemically make us feel upbeat and euphoric.
• If you have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, you can take the popular drug, Adderall. It contains a combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine. They are central nervous system stimulants that affect chemicals in the brain and nerves that contribute to hyperactivity and impulse control.  Another drug frequently used is Ritalin.
• Something far-reaching and profound has changed in our world to get us to this place.
• Something is tearing apart the very fabric of our society.
• These stressors and anxiety disorder cases are very real and the folks who suffer from these conditions are really struggling on so many levels.
• Often, we see some or all these: depression, anxiety, and ADHD in the same people.
• I have three questions I want to consider today:

1. How has it gotten so bad?
2. Is medication the answer?
3. What can we do to fix it?

1. How has it gotten so bad?

• Each year, the American Psychological Association (APA) surveys people across the United States about stress: its sources; its intensity; and how people are responding to stressors, both mentally and physically.
• According to the APA:

Our 2020 survey is different. It reveals that Americans have been profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the external factors Americans have listed in previous years as significant sources of stress remain present and problematic. These compounding stressors are having real consequences on our minds and bodies.

• The APA goes on to say:

The sheer magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis is hard to fathom. As of the published date of this report, the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has topped 215,000 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University. This is more Americans than died in World War I (116,516 deaths1), the Vietnam War (58,2092), and the Korean War (36,5163) – combined.

The potential long-term consequences of the persistent stress and trauma created by the pandemic are particularly serious for our country’s youngest individuals, known as Generation Z (Gen Z). Our 2020 survey shows that Gen Z teens (ages 13-17) and Gen Z adults (ages 18-23) are facing unprecedented uncertainty, are experiencing elevated stress and are already reporting symptoms of depression.

• The stressor statistics are overwhelming compared with last year’s (2019) results:
• 66% of adults still say health care concerns are their primary stressors,
• 62% say mass shootings,
• 55% say climate change/global warming is a significant source of stress,
• 51% are concerned about the rise in suicide rates,
• 47% say immigration,
• 47% say widespread sexual harassment/assault reports in the news,
• 45% say the opioid/heroin epidemic.
• Nearly 2 in 3 adults (65%) say the current amount of uncertainty in our nation causes them stress.
• Further, 3 in 5 (60%) say the number of issues America faces currently is overwhelming to them. This finding speaks to the hardships many Americans may be confronting at this moment. Issues they are stressed about are not going away, they are piling up.
• Along with the personal and national issues that are causing them significant stress, Americans now also are more commonly worried about the long-term well-being of the country. More than 3 in 4 adults (77%) say the future of our nation is a significant source of stress, up significantly from 2019 when 66% of adults said the same. And more than 7 in 10 Americans (71%) say this is the lowest point in our nation’s history that they can remember. In 2019, only 56% of Americans shared this sentiment.
• In our society today, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD is common.
• But, when we were kids, we never even heard of such a thing.
• When I was in kindergarten, I got in trouble for fidgeting with another child’s clay artwork and dropped and broke it.
• The teacher’s response was to take the object that I had made for my mother and throw it on the floor, destroying it.
• When I was in first grade, I got in trouble for not staying in my seat and the teacher tied me to my chair with a scarf.
• Year after year my parents were called into school because of my disruptive behavior.
• All my report cards say that I talked too much in class.
• We didn’t know what to call my problem back then – now we call it ADHD.
• Now, it seems like everybody has ADHD or some flavor of it, so I feel more accepted.
• Some of my kids believe that I have ADHD and they think they got it from me.
• Depression is another form of mental illness that is sweeping our world.
• According to the world Health Organization (WHO):

Depressive disorder (also known as depression) is a common mental disorder. It involves a depressed mood or loss of pleasure or interest in activities for long periods of time.

• Other symptoms are also present, which may include:
  • poor concentration
  • feelings of excessive guilt or low self-worth
  • hopelessness about the future
  • thoughts about dying or suicide
  • disrupted sleep
  • changes in appetite or weight
  • feeling very tired or low in energy.
• Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression.
• Depression is about 50% more common among women than among men.
• Worldwide, more than 10% of pregnant women and women who have just given birth experience depression.
• More than 700 000 people die due to suicide every year.
• Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in 15–29-year-olds.

2. Is medication the answer?

• It would be irresponsible of me to suggest that medication is not very useful.
• I think you can probably guess that I’m going to turn to the Bible instead.
• At the very least, medication can buy a person time.
• And sometimes, time is all we need. Time to let God become the answer.
• As I spewed out statistics and issues changing the fabric of our society, what did I miss?
• I left out another very important statistic that you can look around the room and guess.
• There has been a major decline in church attendance that is only getting worse.
• People need God and they need to come together in worship and fellowship.
• I have been working remotely, by myself, for many years now, but I miss people contact.
• I miss going into an office and staying connected to people.
• I think that is another factor that has driven our growing stress, anxiety, and depression.
• In our Bible story today, we see two things going on with Job:

1. The enemy, Satan, is deliberately behind Job’s troubles – this is what goes on today behind the scenes in the spirit realm of our world.
2. Job never blames God for his problems and his faith remains strong.

• In the end, it is Job’s strong faith and persistent turning to God that restores his world.
• Job is simply one example of exactly what is going on in our world today.

3. What can we do to fix it?

• First thing: Satan is not going to stop destroying and we already know how it ends.
• I don’t want to go to church; churches are full of hypocritical, mean-spirited people who gossip and pick at each other; churches have done a lot to harm people. YUP
• So, let’s just give up; stay home; play golf; get our kids in soccer; sleep in.
• Ask people “How is that working for you?” The numbers paint a dark picture.
• The answer is NOT to run away from God and leave the church; make church better.
• Are we perfect here at Biltmore? NO! We have our moments when even we are flawed.
• Like Job, we need to cling to our faith in God and pull together and get back in church.
• The world, under Satan’s rule, is pulling us away from church attendance.
• Can you remember when you were a child growing up how important was church?
• In 1929, this church was built in the middle of one of the first Richmond suburbs.
• Back then, churches anchored the social order in America – whatever your denomination.
• There is a healing power that comes from gathering together in the name of Christ.
• My burden in this life becomes so much easier when I know that others are helping me.
• Church has become inconvenient; church has become controversial; church has become irrelevant.
• Biltmore was once a thriving, essential part of this neighborhood.
• The softball team at Biltmore once dominated the church league.
• About this point is where my kids are gonna ask me “Dad, are you trying to say that if we just go to church on Sunday our ADHD, anxiety, and depression are going to be cured?”
• The answer is “No, church is not just another form of medication.”
• Church attendance is a symptom of an abiding faith in God and a desire to pull together as a team in the name of Christ.
• Stress and anxiety is a symptom of what the enemy is doing to the world.