How Fantasy Helps Me
My Struggles with Depression
Lately I have been struggling with difficult bouts of depression and heavy mood swings, in addition to my daily companion of Lyme disease symptoms. As a result, It’s been a challenging battle to stay positive. The point of this blog post isn’t to focus in on my depression or illness and go into all of that, but to share one way that I have been finding more hope and even moments of joy in the midst of this difficult battle.
In this post I will share ways that God has been helping me deal with my depression and heavy mood swings through reading fiction, specifically fantasy, books.
How Fantasy Helps Me
When that familiar, heavy feeling of melancholy settles upon me, I now realize that one of the best things for me to do, especially on a day when I’m feeling too weak or in pain to do anything more productive, is to get in a comfortable spot and pull out my Kindle. From there, I choose a book that looks appealing and dive in.
So how does reading fantasy help me deal with my stubbornly depressed feelings?
1.) Reading Fantasy Engages My Mind and Imagination
The best thing about reading fiction versus non-fiction when depressed is that your brain will be so engaged with the content and characters that it will become harder to simultaneously think about personal problems or feelings.
But more than that. fiction creates a world where your imagination is activated by necessity. I love reading a book that creates a unique and mysterious world, with vivid descriptions, compelling and relatable characters and lots of mystery and discovery. Depression can make you feel uninterested in things you usually like—but for me, even when I’m depressed, fantasy worlds manage to trickle some life in me.
2.) Fantasy Teaches Me Lessons
I try to be intentional to select books that will be clean, encouraging and creative. Fortunately there are many books out there that provide just that and more.
There have been many times where I identify with the protagonist’s struggles and find myself encouraged and strengthened in my own personal battles as the character grows and perseveres on their journey. Sometimes seeing a character’s struggles or foils from a distance gives me insight to see my own flaws in fresh or convicting ways. When a character looses faith in their journey or gets tangled in their own lies, I am often reminded of ways that I tend to do the same thing and am warned of the consequences. Sometimes even the most imaginative of stories can give me fresh empathy for the poor or marginalized in the real world or remind me of the power that love and perseverance can have to accomplish good. As C.S. Lewis says:
““The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by ‘the veil of familiarity.’ ”
Many books have brought me to tears when there are such displays of sacrificial love, justice for the oppressed, devoted friendship, humbling forgiveness and most of all redemptive heart changes in characters. The best feeling is finishing a book with a renewed warmth and changed perspective.
3.) Fantasy Points Me to Christ
I realize that some Christians might disagree here—and I am of course always open to hearing differing points of view, but I firmly believe that reading fictional works, especially fantasy, have power to stir up the heart to a deeper desire and awe for God.
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were bold contributors and advocates to the value of fantasy in the life of believers. I love what they each say about fantasy and myths pointing us to deeper truth:
““We have come from God and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God. Indeed, only by myth-making, only by becoming a ‘sub-creator’ and inventing stories, can Man ascribe to the state of perfection that he knew before the fall.””
““The story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened.” ”
I believe that God uses fantasy to remind me of the true story of redemption that He has accomplished on the cross and will bring to completion on the last day. The happy endings, with justice, reconciliation and fulfillment of trials, remind me that God is working to unite all things to himself and remake the world one day without sin or suffering—it points me to eternity and gives me fresh hope that the troubles of this world are “not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)
I love how God can use even the most bizarre fantasy stories to draw me out of myself and into worshipping Him.
My Final Point
I can’t express enough how grateful I am for the freedom I have to enjoy such creative books. I really have been blown away by the depth, creativity and emotional impact so many authors have created in their stories.
For those looking for a place to start more reading, I recommend Goodreads as a great resource to read reviews and find books that will appeal to your tastes.
Happy reading!