Can Christians Take Antidepressants?
1) Direct Answer
Yes. A Christian may take prescribed antidepressant medicine under proper care, with prayer and faith in God as the true Healer, so long as it does not lead to bondage, loss of sobriety, or become a substitute for repentance and trust in the Lord.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- The Bible shows that practical helps for the body are permitted. “Use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). That wasn’t unbelief; it was a measured, need-based help.
- Paul traveled with “Luke, the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14). God did not condemn the presence of a doctor among His people.
- The Good Samaritan used oil and wine on wounds (Luke 10:34), showing the lawful use of remedies.
- Yet healing is God’s work: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church… the prayer of faith shall save the sick” (James 5:14-15).
- We must not be ruled by anything: “I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12). And we must keep a clear, Spirit-led mind: “Be not drunk with wine… but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
- God also addresses the inner life: He gives “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3), His peace guards the heart and mind (Philippians 4:6-7), and we cast all our care upon Him (1 Peter 5:7).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- You see, some afflictions are mainly physical, some are wounds of the soul, and some are heavy spiritual oppression. A pill cannot forgive sin or cast out a devil, and a sermon cannot replace food, rest, or a necessary aid to the body. So we seek the Lord first, obey His Word, receive prayer, and, when needed, use lawful helps without condemnation.
- Medicine is a tool; God is the Healer. If a measured, doctor-directed treatment helps stabilize the body while you feed on the Word and walk in obedience, it’s not unbelief. But if any drug begins to rule you, dull your sobriety, or excuse disobedience, that’s wrong.
- Guard the order:
- Go to God first—prayer, repentance, confession, and the anointing of the elders.
- Stay in the Word, praise, fellowship, and clean living.
- If there’s ongoing need, use prescribed treatment wisely, avoid self-medicating, review it regularly with trustworthy care, and give thanks to God.
- Don’t condemn those who are struggling. Strengthen them. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and binds up wounds. He restores both mind and heart.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice, the Bible never tells you to refuse help; it tells you to refuse bondage and unbelief. Keep Christ first, keep your mind clear, walk in the light, and let every remedy sit under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God heals—sometimes instantly, sometimes by process—but always to the glory of His Name.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The water of separation
55-0121 §15
...over everything, see. A jellyfish: You know what usually eats them? The crabs and things along the side of the seashore, comes up with his pinchers and cuts him in two and takes him down, 'cause the jellyfish just lays there. Brother, we need some Christians, not jellyfish, but with a backbone. That's right. That'll stand. Oh, I don't mean to fuss with people; but stand for your God-given rights that Christ died for. Certainly. Not pushed around. We don't have to be. No, sir. We got an inheritance. Amen. And our i...
Church Ages, part 5: The Pergamean Church Age
60-1207 §61
Now, so Constantine, with this in his mind: to strengthen his empire, as Rome always did, to hold the keys to the world, he had to bring his pagan ideas and take the Christian ideas, and some way consolidate them together; to weld this together, and make hisself an empire that would be second to none, see, because that he was ... that would make him yet the greatest ruler in the world---Constantine. And as far as conversion, he was a politician; but not a saint of God, as some of them try to make him. He wasn't. Ne...
The Angel of God
51-0720 §32
And then I asked them, I said, "Are you Christian?" "No." Neither one of them was a Christian. I said, "Well, look, if God takes your little boy home and you die a sinner, why, you can never see him no more. And if the little boy, God takes him up to heaven, and you die a Christian, give your hearts to God and die a Christian, you can go up home to heaven with your little boy and never have another accident up there. That's one thing, thank God." And I said, "There won't be any accidents up there, and you'll live f...
Sir, we would see Jesus
55-0828E §20
...e other boy for just a moment or two. Listen. The second day passed. The little boy had never gained consciousness, and that little mother was frantic. When they'd start to take me in the hotel at night, the managers would have to pick me up by the arms, pull me over the top of them. The little mother, about 25, and she was just frantic. So, she said she wanted me to go pray for her boy. So, the next day I had them to bring her up, she and her husband. And I said to them, "What do you want?" She said, "Go heal my l...
Where I think Pentecost failed
55-1111 §30
And therefore, when people claim to be Christians, or impersonate Christianity, or try to act like they're a Christian, when down in their heart, they don't have the peace of God. You only become an actor. And, you know, people really know that. Your neighbor knows that you're just acting that way. Certainly. She see you get mad and fly loose, and beat the dog around the house, and holler at your husband, and scat him under the bed when he comes in. And you do the same to... Why, they know that's not Christianity a...