My wife knew something was wrong. I didn’t have piles of books lying everywhere. I wasn’t writing or creating. She could tell I was depressed—empty, like the ice cream carton beside me and the hours of mindless Netflix I was binging.

This is what depression can look like, but what’s really going on when someone is mentally unhealthy?

In M. Scott Peck’s classic book A Road Less Traveled, he describes mental health as “the ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs.”

When a person is depressed or anxious, they are suffering because they cannot fully face reality as it really is.

Why would someone avoid reality?

Biologically, our brains or guts (where most serotonin is produced) might be disrupted. In my case, when I eat gluten, it messes with my stomach, causing toxins to leak into my bloodstream. If I accidentally eat wheat, I usually experience a panic attack the next day. I become neurotic and paranoid, unable to see that I’m actually safe, physically and relationally.

Psychologically, someone might be suffering from a previous traumatic episode, which sends warning signals to protect them from reexperiencing pain. Their body leaps into flight, fight, or freeze mode. Most often, the body is preparing to respond to a threat that is not actually there.

Finally, someone might be avoiding reality because the pain of the truth seems too great to bear. For example, someone might struggle to believe that their spouse is truly abusive. So instead, they tell themselves, “I’m the problem, and if I just tried harder, my marriage would get better.” Or someone might struggle to accept the loss of a child or parent. So instead of accepting reality, they continue to ruminate on “what could have been.”

In many cases, those who are depressed can’t or won’t pinpoint what they are trying to avoid. Instead, they drown their unwanted feelings in the swamp of unhealthy distraction: drugs, porn, food, etc.

The truth will set us free.

The few examples above show that mental health is complex. We might not know if the origins of our disease are biological, psychological, emotional, or spiritual. And often they are a combination of several different factors, which is why there are so many other methods of treatment and routes to healing and well-being.

Given this complexity, simplistic answers rarely provide effective solutions. Healing usually takes longer than expected and often follows a winding path.

The good news is that in Christ, you and I can have the courage to pursue the ongoing process of facing, finding, and being devoted to the truth.

Whatever the truth may be, no matter how painful, God is greater. He has the power to bring justice to victims, to right wrongs, to forgive sins, to raise the dead, and finally to renew all things in the end.

I know that for some people, God seemed to give them the proper diet to improve their mental health. Others were given a patient counselor who walked with them for years until they felt safe enough to confront their demons. And others were healed by God’s gracious presence through the support of their family of believers, the church.

They committed themselves to the ongoing process of facing reality at all costs.

Commit yourself to the truth.

You and I might be tempted to avoid reality because it feels too painful to see and experience the truth. It feels like too much of a loss to tolerate. But avoiding reality, whether that’s reality of what we ought to eat or what we ought to do or believe, will only make matters worse.

Commit yourself to reality at all costs.

Walk into reality with Christ and the counselors or helpers he provides.

Accept reality no matter how painful it may feel in the moment.

Because even if you are walking through the shadow of death, you are not alone. The Lord Jesus walks with you (Psalm 23:4). And he will show you the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31,32).