Discouragement is a mortal sin

At the dawn of the birth of Christianity, the Greek monk Evagri Pontius formulated the whole system of mortal sins, which at that time included pride, envy, laziness, anger, lust, greed and gluttony. There were seven in total. From the very childhood, the Christian was told that he must work from morning till late evening, since laziness is a mortal sin. Christians were poorly fed because gluttony was also a mortal sin. They also could not be proud, envious, greedy, wicked and lascivious. But after some time this list was made more humane, if I may say so.

Discouragement 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 pamper yourself with carnal joy or a feast with your friends? Thus, some bans have been edited and mitigated in the list of deadly sins. For example, Pope Gregory the Great removed from the list of mortal sins of fornication, and the holy fathers withdrew from him laziness and gluttony. Some sins have generally become the category of human "weaknesses".

However, interestingly, Pope Gregory the Great, allowing his flock repentance and prayer to smooth the sin of adultery, suddenly brings to the list of mortal sins despondency - seemingly absolutely innocent property for the human soul. I would like to note that despondency remained on the list unchanged, and moreover, many theologians still consider him to be the most serious of all mortal sins.

The mortal sin is despondent

So why is despondency considered a mortal sin? The whole point is that when a person becomes despondent, he gets little on what is fit, he shows indifference to everything, and especially to people. He can not perform a worthy and high-quality work, is not able to create, friendship and love, too, do not please him. Therefore, it was justifiable to attribute despondency to mortal sins, but the lust and fornication were completely removed from this list.

Sadness, depression, depression, sadness, sadness ... Getting under the power of these emotional states, we do not even think about what they have a negative and crushing force. Many believe that these are some subtleties of the state of the mysterious Russian soul, in this, I think, there is some truth. However, psychotherapists consider all this 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 dejection as a mortal sin.

Despondency or sadness?

Discouragement is a mortal sin, which in Orthodox theology is treated as a separate sin, while in Catholicism among mortal sins there is sadness. Many can not see any particular difference between these emotional states. However, sadness is seen as some temporary mental disorder associated with some unpleasant event or incident. But despondency can come without any reason, when a person suffers and can not explain such a state even with total external well-being.

Despite all this, the Church believes that all trials should be able to perceive 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 of God, about the world and about man. This kind of unbelief provides the soul to itself, thereby condemning a person to mental illness.

Dull means an unbeliever

Such a mortal sin (despondency) is referred to as an evil division, under the influence of this the person begins to be lazy and can not force himself to the necessary saving actions, since nothing comforts or pleases him, he does not believe in anything and does not even hope. In the end, all this directly affects the human soul, destroying it, and then its body. Discouragement is the exhaustion of the mind, the relaxation of the soul and the accusation of God in non-human love and unchastity.

Symptoms of Despondency

It is important to identify the symptoms in time, by which you can see that the destructive processes began. This is a violation of sleep (drowsiness or insomnia), malfunctioning of the intestines (constipation), changes in appetite (overeating or lack of appetite), decreased sexual activity, fatigue with mental and physical exertion, as well as impotence, weakness, pain in the stomach, In the muscles and heart.

Conflict with yourself and with God

Conflict, first of all with itself, gradually begins to grow into an organic disease. Despondency is a bad mood and a depressed state of mind, accompanied by a decline in strength. Thus, sin grows into the nature of man and the medical aspect is acquired. 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 to use spiritual and religious psychotherapeutic techniques and methods.

A person suffering from depression can be advised to find for himself an experienced confessor from the monastery, so that he helped him get out of this terrible state. The conversation with him can last up to several hours, until he decides what the source of such deep spiritual sorrow may be, for some time, to stay in the monastery. And only then it will be possible to begin treatment of the soul. After all, dejection is a serious illness, which nevertheless can be treated.

Orthodox medicine

A person who has decided to fight this kind of bodily and spiritual illness will urgently need to change his way of life and begin active churching. Many people are seriously ill and lead to an understanding of their sinful life, so they begin to look for an outlet on the gospel path. The main thing in orthodox medicine is to help a sick person get rid of his own passions and thoughts, which are connected to the general process of destruction of the body and soul. At the same time, a believing person, faced with a disease, should not refuse professional medical care. After all, it is also from God, and to renounce it means to reproach the Creator.