Mormons don't get depressed. Or so we like to think. Of course, not every member got the memo.

FYI: We Latter-day Saints get depression and anxiety like any other mortals. To think and act otherwise would be the same as to pretend we are above the laws of nature. To say that membership in the church is a ticket to a world free of depression and anxiety is like saying that all babies born in the covenant don't get colic. It is equally untrue that no kid in Primary acts out, no young men and women in Mutual have acne, missionaries never get sick and high priests don't have heart attacks.

It just ain't so.



Bad things happen to good people. Yet there somehow persists this misdirected faith that if we are good, we are protected from all earthly travails. Translation or passing from this life to the next without tasting death does occur; it just is not the general rule and certainly was not taught in medical school.

I don't doubt the power of obeying the law, but I also see the laws of genetics, aging, social interaction, emotional trauma and nutrition, etc.

There are those who will concede that depression happens to the Saints. But they endorse the position that an active Mormon doesn't need to take medicines or seek professional mental help. They should either just pray it away or suck it up. Get tough; be a pioneer. You don't read about them needing a shrink.

I can't say whether the pioneers needed a therapist or not. They may have been each other's counselor as they sat around the campfire.

Depression to me is very similar to other ailments of the body; it just happens to originate in the brain and not in the bowel or the bladder. Disregarding medical advances because they involve the mind is like separating the head from the rest of the body because it is more mysterious -- or at least more complex -- than the kidneys or heart.

Ignoring emotional needs is like saying to a person with elevated cholesterol, "Don't take your pills, the statins, to lower the risk of heart attacks." They can just eat or exercise their way back to clean arteries.

While diet and exercise are a good start, if there is no improvement, then the person needs to take the next step, which may include medicines. The same is true with depression or anxiety.

Heart and brain disease are a mixture of genes and lifestyle. So why is there the stigma if a person chooses to take a pill to increase a body molecule like serotonin while taking a pill to lower cholesterol gets a free pass?

There are those who argue that depression is a choice. Does that make atherosclerotic heart disease a choice as well? Yes, some don't eat right and exercise little. And yes, some with depression also don't eat right and exercise little. But as far as I know, neither chose their genes.

A psychiatrist I know told me about how a couple of men who had depression were called to church leadership positions. They took medicines as prescribed by their physicians to treat the moods, accompanying negative thoughts and lack of energy. When called, they felt they needed to report that they took anti-depressants. Their wise ecclesiastical leader answered, "Take your medicine and do your job."

There is wisdom in the message of the leaders.

Like grace that is there for us as we do all we can do, so perhaps comes healing after all that we can do. Membership provides tools, not guarantees. Use the power of the community of Saints to share and serve. Seek out truth wherever you find it, particularly the truth about our divine essence. Obey the Word of Wisdom and other words of wisdom.

And if you need to, take your medicine and do your job.

Joseph Cramer, M.D., is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, practicing pediatrician for more than 25 years and an adjunct professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah. He can be reached at jgcramermd@yahoo.com.