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.
Abraham restored
61-0211 §63
...ried women standing by my side, than to stand there with one wife, and running with another man's. Yes, sir. I'd have a better chance before God. You can't force sinners to take a Christian's duty and do that. They can't do it until they're born again. That's right. We're a long ways from being a Christian nation. How would we open up every bootleg joint on the corner, and run the things the way we do, and call ourselves Christians? That's not Christians, no more than a hog knows about a side saddle. Well, you coul...
Expectation
61-0205M §33
...long to their organization, he said, "We have drawed a line. We have drawed you out of it, Brother Branham, out of our circle." I said, "I'm drawing another one, so big ... take you back in again." I said, "So you just can't push me out." Right. "I'll draw a line right over the top of yours and take you right back," see. That's ... for we are brethren. "We are not divided; all one body are we." Right. We're Christians, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood. We are Christians. We should act like Christians, we sho...
Why many Christians struggle to live the Christian life
57-0303A §26
...e should cast down reasoning. That's right. We're to believe, not reason. Just believe it. "A new heart will I give you." Now, here's where many of the people has made a mistake. "And a new spirit will I give you." Now, He never said, "I'll just polish up the old spirit, polish up the old heart," but, "I will give you a new heart and a new spirit."
Why many Christians struggle to live the Christian life
57-0303A §70
Just think what we Pentecostal churches got into. Let's take the Psalm of Life for a minute. Be not like dumb driven cattle, has to be herded into a pen or something another. Be a hero, stand out there. Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, With partings, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time; Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing over life's solemn main, For a forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.
Discerning the Body of the Lord
59-0812 §13
These Christians was taking the communion and not living the life. Christianity is an experience and a life. And these Christians was just living any kind of a life, making a poor example of their profession. And Paul says, "That this cause, many are sick and weakly among you, and many are asleep," which means they are dead, because they haven't discerned the body of the Lord. And we who call ourselves Christians, we have no right to take the communion unless we are living above a reproach of the world. We have no...