When I experienced mental health issues for the first time at age 22, it swiftly knocked the wind out of my sails and completely blindsided me. I eventually figured out my depression was tied to deep anxiety over graduating from college, but the effects permeated through all aspects of my life and significantly impacted my Greek Orthodox spirituality.

Many people don’t know that 29% of US adults will be diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives, and that number has grown by almost 10% in less than a decade, according to Gallup. These are new and rising numbers, and I used to think they didn’t apply to me. But depression is a humbling experience, and I’m glad I had my Orthodox faith to lean on in a time of great need.

Going to Divine Liturgy every Sunday was a priority for me during college, because it served as my home away from home as I pursued my degree and allowed me to connect with my Greek heritage as much as I needed to. I know everyone has their own way of approaching spirituality, but my preferred method was definitely as a member of the Saint Sophia church choir in Los Angeles, CA.

Now, the thing about mental health challenges is that they don’t ask you when it’s convenient to rear their ugly head. In my experience, depression is a frightening – and temporary – leveler of all things you previously enjoyed doing or used to find easier, and that’s exactly what happened with my ability to connect with Orthodox worship through song.

It happened quickly, too – one week I could effortlessly navigate hundreds of pages of sheet music alongside my fellow churchgoers, and the next I felt as if the wind was physically gone from my lungs. I grew to feel as if I’d never be able to sing at church again. It was almost like losing one of my five senses.

Unfortunately, I did not immediately lean into my faith once I noticed something was very, very wrong. In fact, I tried just about everything else first – applying to hundreds of jobs, scheduling visits with unknown physicians, and shutting myself off from family and friends. I guess you could say I did just about everything but consult an Orthodox priest.

In the end, after a few difficult months, I was lucky enough to work in Greece for the summer upon graduating from college, which I have written about previously for The National Herald. Slowly but surely, I felt new life come back into me. Additionally, during my stay, I attended church in the land of my ancestors and reflected on words of advice I’ve been given over the years.

I recalled a lesson Father Photios Dumont from Saint Demetrios in Seattle, WA told me during one YAL conference: the importance of finding stillness. People my age are quite often the opposite of still, sucked into the stimulation of their devices and the nonstop social pressure of their peers.

These factors often contribute to depression or anxiety in today’s youth and lead to what I was reduced to for the final months of my college experience: a confused kid who felt crippled by forces he didn’t fully understand.

My prescription to anyone going through something similar is to find an Orthodox Church and see it for what it is: a place for stillness and spiritual reserve. This is because when you are depressed, your body needs “deep rest.”

Thankfully, that rest can occur in the Orthodox Church, just as it did for me when I had tried everything else. There are countless inspiring stories of holy men and women finding God through stillness, because inner stillness enables us to truly listen to God. In the wise words of the Very Rev. John Breck, “Silence and stillness are, like prayer itself, gifts that God can and wants to bestow upon us.”

Struggling Orthodox Christians can also turn to the Bible itself for valuable lessons on prayer and healing. Philippians 4:6-8 says on the topic of spiritual wellbeing through prayer to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

Deep rest, as it turns out, was my antidote to being depressed. Finding stillness within the Orthodox Church is a great way to get there, and thanks to living out those teachings in silence, I can sing again.