🧠 Analyzing Job

How can we see Job’s health today?

We can’t fully diagnose historical figures like Job without complete context, but we can examine his symptoms using modern perspectives. Based on the book of Job, his experience aligns with several conditions.

Job’s immense losses, his wealth, children, health all combined with physical & social isolation would trigger numerous psychological & emotional responses:

Major Depressive Disorder:

MDD, or major depression, is a serious mental health condition. MDD diagnosis requires five or more depression symptoms, including depressed mood or loss of interest, for at least two weeks.

What are the Sign & Symptoms?

The diagnosis is challenging in individuals with general medical conditions because some symptoms overlap with those of other conditions. These symptoms must cause significant distress or impairment in functioning. Major depressive disorder is characterized by a period of at least two weeks of depressed mood, loss of interest in activities. Additionally, individuals with depression must experience at least four additional symptoms.

1. Changes in appetite: “I refuse to touch them; they are as food that makes me sick” Job 6:7

2. Sleep disturbances: “So I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been apoortioned to me. When I lie down, I think ‘How long before I get up:’ The night drags on, and I toss till dawn. Job 7:3-4

3. Fatigue: “My eye has frown dim because of sorrow, and all my member are like a shadow.” Job 17:7. His body is described as being wasted away and lacking strength, indicating extreme physical & emotional exhaustion.

4. Feelings of worthlessness: “ My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and come to their end without hope.” Job 7:6. The repeated expressions of hopelessness & having little to no value for his own life and days are central to his feelings of worthlessness.

5. Difficulty concentrating: He struggles to focus, as shown by his distraction and inability to engage in his friends’ discussions. (Job 19:13-19) His deep distress and fixation on his suffering make it hard for him to think clearly, resulting in confused arguments with his friends.

6. Suicidal thoughts: “Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter. in soul, who long for death, but it comes not, and search for it more than for hidden treasures.” Job 3:20-21 . This is the most bold and tangible evidence as repeatedly expressing wishes for not existing or death.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder:

The DSM-V defines PTSD as a condition that can occur after experiencing a traumatic event. It includes four main groups of symptoms:

1. Having flashbacks or nightmares: "When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,' then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions." Job 7:13-14. Job's sleep is disrupted by intrusive, terrifying mental images and nightmares (night terrors) that re-traumatize him.

2. Avoiding things that remind you of the trauma: "I refuse to touch them; they are as food that makes me sick." Job 6:7. While this really relates to appetite change. We see that his complete rejection of all former life (including tearing his robe, shaving his head, and sitting in ashes) is an extreme form of avoidance—rejecting the world that caused him pain.

3. Feeling guilty, detached or having negative thoughts: “Why is light given to him who is in misery... who long for death..." Job 3:20-21. Here we see his profound negativity and hopelessness, central to MDD and PTSD.

4. Being easily startled or overly alert: "He has alienated my relatives... My spirit is repulsive to my wife..." Job 19:13-19. Job is completely detached and isolated from everyone, feeling betrayed by God and rejected by his closest circle, leading to extreme feelings of detachment & alienation. "What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me." Job 3:25. This verse is the clearest indicator of hyper-vigilance and anxiety. Job lives in a state of high alert, and the tragedy confirms his worst fears, creating a cycle of anxiety and dread.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder:

In the first two posts in this series, I talked about external chaos and the toxic theology of Job’s friends. But the greatest chaos often takes place inside my own head. If Job were alive today, we would quickly look at his symptoms—the sleeplessness, the constant agitation, the feeling that disaster is always imminent—and see the clinical description of anxiety. The Book of Job offers us one of the clearest biblical definitions of anxiety, not in a list of commands, but in a single, devastating confession from Job himself:

"What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me." (Job 3:25)

This verse captures the core of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): The dread comes first. It's the relentless, pervasive feeling of the constant worry that something bad could happen, even when everything is fine. This feeling of looming danger is the powerful engine that drives my control impulse. If I feel danger is always imminent, then I logically conclude I must plan for every scenario, analyze every outcome, and try to force the world to be predictable. That suffocating need to control is nothing more than my own terrified spirit desperately trying to seize the reins from God. It's the belief that my safety depends on my foresight, not His stability. And just like Job's friends, when we try to control a situation—whether it’s a global pandemic, a friend’s poor choice, or my own mental health—our hands only ever manage to suffocate the life out of it. The ultimate breakthrough in our faith is realizing that since God has already promised His competence, we are completely free to surrender our own exhausted attempts at control.

Dermatological Condition:

The text describes him being covered in "painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head" (Job 2:7). While the exact medical term is lost to history, the description points to a severe, disfiguring dermatological condition, like chronic eczema, psoriasis, or ancient leprosy. The agony here isn't just the physical pain; it's the profound social and emotional toll that only those with visible, chronic skin conditions truly understand. When you live with a condition that flares, bleeds, or changes your appearance, your suffering is often dismissed. Job's pain wasn't internal like a silent anxiety attack; it was external, visible, and yet, his friends chose to look through it. They ignored the physical suffering and jumped straight to the spiritual fix, essentially saying, "Your pain isn't real; your sin is." This is the common, cruel experience of anyone with a chronic, visible condition—the pain is minimized in favor of a cure or a moral judgment. Job was forced to sit outside the camp, separated from his community and family. His physical appearance made him "unclean" and repellant. The loneliness that comes with a condition that makes people hesitate before shaking your hand, or look away when they speak to you, is one of the deepest wounds of visible disease. Job's isolation stemmed directly from the visible proof of his suffering. Chronic dermatological pain is exhausting. The sleepless nights, the constant itching, the physical effort required to simply exist—all of this feeds directly into the anxiety and depression that Job experienced. His fatigue was not laziness; it was the direct result of a body and mind waging a relentless, visible war. By recognizing the physical symptoms as a source of social and spiritual isolation, we recognize Job's experience as a fellow human who knows the anguish of carrying a visible wound.

Social Isolation:

The mental deterioration Job endured was not just due to his physical pain; it was the result of profound social isolation. Job was separated from his community and judged by his friends—a psychological trauma that mirrors the devastating effects of solitary confinement. This comparison is not hyperbole; it is a clinical reality. Studies on prisoners subjected to prolonged isolation show a terrifying acceleration of the symptoms Job experienced. In isolation, inmates are seven times more likely to engage in self-harm and suffer acute psychotic episodes. “Many studies document psychological harms of segregation, including associations between solitary confinement and self-harm, anxiety, depression, paranoia, and aggression, among other symptoms..” (Reiter et al., 2020). We see here that isolation makes the feeling of constant threat and fear stronger, like the dread Job mentioned in Job 3:25. threat and fear (the very dread Job confessed in Job 3:25). Roughly half of all prison suicides occur in solitary confinement, where the mind is completely severed from non-judgmental human contact. “Individuals were overall 24% more likely to die in the first year after release, including from suicide (78% more likely) and homicide (54% more likely). They were also 127% more likely to die of an opioid overdose in the first two weeks after release” (Sandoval, 2023). Whether confinement is imposed by prison walls, or by the stigma of a chronic condition like visible skin disease or anxiety, the effect on the human spirit is the same. This Cutting off human connection speeds up depression, increases hyper-vigilance, and intensifies the fear that something worse is on the way. Job's experience confirms a core truth: the human spirit cannot thrive without unconditional, non-judgmental connection. This need is not a weakness; it is a design feature. Even in the perfection of Eden, God declared, "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). Job's tragedy reminds us that the loneliness of isolation is not a side effect of suffering; it is often the most toxic suffering of all, because it denies the very purpose of our creation.

🙏 A Prayer for the Medically-Wounded Soul

“Father,

I come to you with the chart of my own symptoms in my hand. I confess the weariness of the sleepless nights, the anxiety of the dread, and the profound exhaustion of fighting a war that is both physical and unseen. Thank you for the truth in Job's story: that my pain is real, my exhaustion is valid, and my isolation is a toxic reality. I surrender the need for instant healing, and I ask only for Your presence in the symptoms. When the sores burn, let Your love cool. When the dread hits, let the assurance of Your competence calm my spirit. Be my true, non-judgmental Comforter, reminding me that even in this pain, I am not alone.

Amen.”

References:
Reiter, K., Ventura, J., Lovell, D., Augustine, D., Barragan, M., Blair, T., Chesnut, K., Dashtgard, P., Gonzalez, G., Pifer, N., & Strong, J. (2020). Psychological Distress in Solitary Confinement: Symptoms, Severity, and Prevalence in the United States, 2017-2018. American journal of public health, 110(S1), S56–S62. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305375

Sandoval, J. (2023, March 17). How Solitary Confinement Contributes to the Mental Health Crisis. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). https://www.nami.org/advocate/how-solitary-confinement-contributes-to-the-mental-health-crisis/#:~:text=Mental%20Illness%20and%20Solitary%20Confinement,confinement%2C%20termed%20the%20SHU%20Syndrome.