Sadness and Acedia Maladies of the Contemporary Spirit
Sadness and Acedia Maladies of the Contemporary Spirit

Summary/Abstract: One of the most common forms of mental illness is Depression. It is presumed that about 5% of the world’s population is affected by this pathology. Depression represents 60 per cent of all psychiatric disorders. According to data from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in US around 15 million people suffer from depression. Today, in the aftermath of the sanitary crisis generated by the infection with the new virus SARS-CoV-2, the number of depressed persons has increased alarmingly.All newly released data indicate that the passions of the human soul, which are very deeply rooted, lie in fact at the core of these disorders. Among these passions, we would like to raise the importance of Sadness and Acedia. Sadness is the beginning of a road that eventually leads to hopelessness. A man stuck for a long time in such states is a living testimony that his soul is in great pain, and this suffering is very likely to find immediately its expression in the psychic and biological spheres of the body as well.The sinful passion of acedia is intricately bound to the feeling of sadness. Acedia brings fickleness to the soul and body. To cure this spiritual disease we need hope that is given only by repentance and remembrance of death.Sadness is cured through constant Prayer, Confession and Holy Eucharist.What is certain is that the cure of the spiritual affliction is the first step in one’s struggling to regain his mental and physical health. On the other hand, the rising number of diseases and sick people is a sign of the world’s estrangement from God, Who Alone comforts and encourages the depressed and disquieted.

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