-Jesus Christ was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3)
-Joseph Smith had his head downcast on a certain occasion, and someone said to him that he ought to look up and keep his head up. Joseph responded by saying that a stalk of wheat which has much wheat inside will droop from the weight of it. He then said that his head had glorious things in it. (See Truman G Madsen lectures on Joseph Smith)
-Jesus weeps for Lazarus, and isn’t smiling on that occasion. He gets angry at priests, and isn’t smiling then either. he sweats blood in Gethsemane and isn’t crying then either. Jesus is described and being meek and lowly of heart, and commands us to be that way as well, even to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. We are to reach past the shallow level of constant optimism (Elder Hafen of the 70; BYU Devotional “Love is not blind”).
-“Weep for your dead. ” (D&C 42:45) “comfort who needs comforting.” (Mosiah 18) . That implies that in Zion there will be weeping and the need of comfort. There will be dying, which comes from illness and depression, and those things produce sorrow.
-Adam and Eve needed to leave Eden to experience sorrow
-Some sorrow is not our fault. Jesus taught offenses must come but wo to them by whom they come .
-A sport team isn’t always smiling, whereas the end goal of their sport is to have joy.
-Job experienced depression. “Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly…for the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.” “my days…are spent without hope.” “My soul is weary of my life.”
-Prophet George Albert Smith experienced depression (see Elder Holland “Like a broken vessel” General Conference Address.)
-Elder Holland experienced depression (above cited).
-Everyone experiences some level of anxiety, and even serious peaks in anxiety, this is probably different than a clinical disorder which is a more frequent and different breed of anxiety. Some anxiety, even intense anxiety, is positive for our growth.
-In the great Millennium, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)
-General Conference lecture on God wiping away all tears https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2016/10/god-shall-wipe-away-all-tears?lang=eng
