From the Church

Video: Elder Holland Teaches the Importance of Compassion When Responding to Depression

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In a new video on the mental health website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles teaches “those with the greatest need often need the greatest compassion.”

Elder Holland urges people to be compassionate and nonjudgmental toward people who are working through depression.

“We’re supposed to be a lot more loving than we are and this is a pretty good example, this is a pretty good area where we can exercise that charity, that understanding, and avoid judgment,” Elder Holland says in the video.

The mental health website explains: “As disciples of Jesus Christ, we covenant to ‘mourn with those that mourn’ (Mosiah 18:9). There will be moments when we see clear ways to help someone. However, many times mourning with those that mourn does not mean having the right answer to a question or giving a person the perfect resource. Many times, mourning with those that mourn involves listening, waiting, seeking to understand, and supporting the person through the journey.”

Elder Holland explains sometimes this looks like more than a pep talk.

“I think when people have said, ‘Oh just stiffen your shoulders,’ you know, ‘Square your back up and be tough,’ I think that’s pretty good advice if you’re just kind of blue or having a tough day. . . . That’s probably not what we’re talking about,” Elder Holland says in the video. “What we’re discussing here is an actual illness. It’s depression that gets to be clinical depression. It’s the inability to function where people actually can’t meet the day, sometimes can’t get out of bed.”

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE OR FIND MORE MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES AT ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Lead image a YouTube screenshot
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