Philip Cottrell is not any sense a professional author, nor does he have ambition to be one. In many ways he is among the most ordinary of Christians, faithfully serving the Lord in an undistinguished area of the East Midlands. Then one day toward the end of 2003 two intruders came to call: depression and anxiety.

In Philip’s own words: I will not write about medication or professional help, since I am not medically trained and therefore not qualified to judge their effectiveness. Suffice to say that I see no reason to discount medical help. Since, as God provides professionals to treat our bodies, I presume that he provides the same for our minds. However, it is surely up to each Christian to decide for himself. What I do feel able to write about is the Lord’s wonderful love and care for one of his children who has suffered these two forms of disorder. I think we often shrink back from ailments of the mind, but as Christians we need to confront them in order to serve our God as we really desire.

I still get depressed and anxious but I can testify that our gracious Physician ‘will keep [me] from all harm—he will watch over [my] life; the Lord will watch over [my] coming and going both now and for evermore’ (Psalm 121:7–8).

There are three things I hope to do in these pages:-

• to express thanks to the Lord for his healing.

• to be of help to my brothers and sisters who suffer from depression and anxiety.

• to give some understanding to Christians who are not so afflicted.