Today in Salem: It’s the first time in ten years that one woman can walk through her garden, or even go outside, without crying. She’s feeling better, just the tiniest bit better, since testifying at the unruly Bridget Bishop’s trial.
As hard as it was, she’d told the judges about a dark night ten years ago, when Bridget’s specter had dragged her out of bed and down to the beach, then tried to drown her. The woman had managed to ask God for help, though, and soon found herself alone, wet, and shivering at the water’s edge. Ever since then, she’s been distracted and crazed, “a vexation to herself, and all about her.”
Now, though, with Bridget contained in jail and condemned, God has saved the woman again. She brushes the tops of the early carrots and thinks about using them in a stew. It will take time to recover from 10 years of distraction, but she knows God will guide her.
LEARN MORE: What did the Puritans think about depression and mental health?
The Puritans believed that illness was brought on by sin. So if you or your family were sick or injured, it meant God was testing or punishing you.
Depression, though, wasn’t seen as an illness. Instead, depression (what the Puritans called distraction, melancholy, or being crazed in the head) was an opportunity to increase faith and trust in God. Specifically, God used depression to make a person less able to take care of themselves, or even to live, which forced them to humble themselves and ask God for help. One could even see depression as a gift, because it left a person with increased faith.
Today we know that depression is not an opportunity or gift by any stretch. It’s an illness, and although faith in a higher power might help, other things can, too. If you or someone you care about might be depressed, talk to a doctor or another medical care provider. If that’s too hard, you can call a mental health hotline at 1-800-662-4357. And if that’s too hard, you can text “MHA” to 741741. It really is possible to feel better.