At the dawn of Christianity, the Greek monk Evagrius of Pontus formulated a whole system of deadly sins, which at that time included pride, envy, laziness, malice, lust, greed and gluttony. There were seven in total. From childhood, the Christian was inspired that he should work from morning until late at night, since laziness is a mortal sin. Christians ate poorly because gluttony was also a mortal sin. They also could not be proud, envious, greedy, evil and lustful. But after some time, this list was made more humane, so to speak.
Despondency is a sin
People, despite the fear of being in eternal torment in hell, still did not want to deprive themselves of worldly entertainment and pleasures. How not to treat yourself to carnal pleasure or a feast with your friends? Thus, some prohibitions were edited and relaxed in the list of deadly sins. For example, Pope Gregory the Great removed fornication from the list of deadly sins, and the holy fathers removed laziness and gluttony from it. Some sins have generally become human “weaknesses.”
However, something else is interesting, Pope Gregory the Great, allowing his flock to mitigate the sin of adultery with repentance and prayer, suddenly introduces despondency into the list of deadly sins - it would seem, an absolutely innocent property for the human soul. I would like to note that despondency remained unchanged on the list, and moreover, many theologians to this day consider it the most serious of all mortal sins.
The mortal sin is discouragement
So why is discouragement considered a mortal sin? The thing is that when a person is overcome by despondency, he becomes of little use for anything, he manifests indifference to absolutely everything, and especially to people. He cannot perform decent and high-quality work, he is not able to create, friendship and love also do not please him. Therefore, it was fair to attribute despondency to mortal sins, but lust and fornication were removed from this list in vain.
Melancholy, despondency, depression, sadness, melancholy… Falling under the power of these emotional states, we do not even think about how negative and crushing power they have. Many believe that these are some subtleties of the state of the mysterious Russian soul, I think there is some truth in this. However, psychotherapists consider all this to be a very dangerous phenomenon, and that a long stay in this state leads to depression, and sometimes to the most irreparable - suicide. Therefore, the Church considers despondency a mortal sin.
Disappointment or sadness?
Despondency is a mortal sin, which in Orthodox theology is treated as a separate sin, while in Catholicismamong the deadly sins there is sadness. Many cannot discern any special difference between these emotional states. However, sadness is seen as some kind of temporary mental disorder associated with some unpleasant event or incident. But despondency can come for no reason, when a person suffers and cannot explain his condition even with complete external well-being.
Despite all this, the Church believes that one should be able to perceive all kinds of trials with a cheerful state of mind, true faith, hope and love. Otherwise, it turns out that a person does not recognize a single whole doctrine about God, about the world and about man. This kind of unbelief leaves the soul to itself, thereby dooming a person to mental illness.
Despondent means unbeliever
and don't even hope. Ultimately, all this directly affects the soul of a person, destroying it, and then his body. Despondency is the exhaustion of the mind, the relaxation of the soul and the accusation of God of inhumanity and unmercifulness.
Symptoms of Despondency
It is important to identify the symptoms in time, by which you can notice that destructive processes have begun. These are sleep disturbances (drowsiness or insomnia), bowel problems (constipation), changes in appetite (overeating or lack of appetite),decrease in sexual activity, rapid fatigue during mental and physical exertion, as well as impotence, weakness, pain in the stomach, muscles and heart.
Conflict with self and God
Conflict, primarily with oneself, gradually begins to develop into an organic disease. Despondency is a bad mood and a depressed state of mind, accompanied by a breakdown. Thus, sin grows into human nature and acquires a medical aspect. The Orthodox Church in this case offers only one way to recovery - this is reconciliation with oneself and with God. And for this it is necessary to engage in moral self-improvement and at the same time use spiritual and religious psychotherapeutic techniques and methods.
A person suffering from depression can be advised to find an experienced confessor from the monastery to help him get out of this terrible state. A conversation with him can last up to several hours, until he figure out what is the source of such deep spiritual sorrow, he may have to stay in the monastery for some time. And only then it will be possible to start healing the soul. After all, despondency is a serious disease that can still be treated.
Orthodox medicine
A person who has decided to fight this kind of bodily and spiritual illness will urgently need to change his lifestyle and start active churching. For many people, it is a serious illness that leads to an understanding of their sinful life, so they begin to look for a way out.gospel way. The main thing in Orthodox medicine is to help a sick person free himself from his own passions and thoughts, which are connected to the general process of destruction of the body and soul. At the same time, a believer, faced with an illness, should not refuse professional medical care. After all, she is also from God, and to refuse her is to reproach the Creator.
