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 Identified Christ of all ages
64-0409 §23
...my birthday last Monday, and I was fifty-five years old. And you know, the Branham family never did ask me to join the family. I was borned a Branham. And that's how we're Christians. We're just borned a Christian, by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we are Christians by birth. That makes us new creatures. In our old nature we could never be Christians. That's the reason today we have so many calling themselves Christians, and living any kind of a life. They've never experienced that borned again...
A deceived Church by the world
59-0628M §8
...and know all the techniques of the enemy, to know how to fortify, to know how to fight the fight. And we can only do that as the Holy Spirit will reveal it to us. We cannot take what some other nation tells us when we go to war, some of their ideas. But we got to take our own ideas, the way the Holy Spirit would direct us, and what ideas He would give us, because He is the Commander in Chief of the army of the Christians.
Prodigal
50-0827A §23
[Gap in the audio.]... wondered if he hire somebody to take him there on the hill. One said, "Well, I just drive these horses within two foot of the rim at a full gallop and never go off." The other one said, "I can drive it within six inches and never go off." Said, "What about you?" to the next one. He said, "I stay just as far over as I can." He said, "You take me around." Don't see how close you can get to the sin. See how far you can stay away from sin. Get way away from it, just altogether shut it off. It's a...
Why many Christians struggle to live the Christian life
57-0303A §66
...people, we get too self-seeded, see. God wants to make us different. God wants to put that in our heart. He wants us to be real. Listen, friends. Let me tell you this. Why take a substitute when the Pentecostal skies are loaded with the real thing? Why try to lay upon some fantastic? Why try to rely upon some little emotion, or some little something another there's nothing to; when Pentecostal skies are just crowded with the real thing. Don't take a substitute when you can get the real.
Why many Christians struggle to live the Christian life
57-0303A §11
Now, I want to ask you something. The church seems to be out of cater somewhere. Now, we've got at least a good hour here, so let's just sit down, and take our helmets off, and listen just for a few minutes. Now notice, if God intended His church to be run upon intellectuals, then it doesn't take the Holy Spirit to do anything in the church. We do not need the Holy Spirit if the church is to be run upon intellectuals. Then we should find the smartest man we could find to be our pastor. And the biggest buildings tha...