The Psychology of Happiness

Very interesting idea about G-d being the opposite of a "Big Bang"/Deist Creator. A bit Eastern, I suppose. I'll have to think about that (being a well-known skeptic of Eastern thought on these boards, smile).

It's certainly congruent with the 12-step model of working your program toward a Higher Power -- i.e., building up to Something rather than looking back to worship Something. (Not to insult anyone's religious beliefs, of course.)

I agree the interview had good information for generally managing your life -- in fact, I found it quite fascinating. But I also found it was based on a "mental wellness" model rather than a "mental illness" model -- which is Seligman's full intention, except a lot of us haven't even gotten to his starting line, let alone begun the race.

So I also agree with you that for anyone who is "in the hole," all the kindly meant but nevertheless forceful rhetoric about motivating yourself will likely only lead you to dig deeper :-(

I've been lurking in the background for a while and think I'll finally pipe up here.

Obviously, your mileage may vary but I was severely depressed, suicidal, and anti-social and the only thing that saved me was positive thinking. I didn't have the benefit of the book "Mind over Mood" or "Learned Optimism". I couldn't use anti-depressants. They made me moody, woozy, and loopy, plus lots of other nasty words that end with "y". The side-effects were killer. I think it's no small coincidence that I was suicidal on Zoloft. Years later we learned more about that drug than was ever revealed when it was first released to the public. Anti-depressants are not for everyone.

I came to my new lifestyle through prayer. I was miserable and I believed He had an answer for me. The answer was to think more positively. To be more optimistic. I dismissed that answer the first dozen or so times because it was too simple, yet nothing was so complicated to implement than forced optimism. In fact, that's what I called it. Forced Optimism. I started by just thinking of one nice, positive, optimistic thing a day. I eschewed glassy eyed white washing. I was no Pollyanna. Instead, I chose to tackle something I had been pessimistic about that day and look at it in a different light. This was not easy, by any means, but I got better at it. Soon I could rethink several things a day, then I could correct myself when I caught myself thinking negatively, then I taught myself that the emotions were just my brain playing tricks with me and I slowly mastered it.

I still suffer from Depression today. In fact, I had a terrible bout with it a few days ago that lasted almost two days. But where I once lost months to Depression, I shortened to weeks, then days, then hours. Last week was an aberration in long track record of success through positive thinking, but I got over it by forcing myself to think positively and to push the waves of sadness aside. And if I can do it, I know others can too. That's what I blog about.

Meds work for some people, but for others they don't. And those people are lost in a pill happy society that is short on coping strategies without prescriptions.

I'm really glad that you wrote about Dr. Seligman today. I look forward to reading the interview. I've not read his work before, though I've obviously heard of it. I just thought that your worry for severe depressives might be needless. We can benefit greatly from learned optimism. We just need to prayerfully set our goals and wisely not expect ourselves to run before we can walk.

Great blog!

~Douglas
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☆ The Splintered Mind - Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude

Without in the least meaning to demean the well-intentioned (and frankly useful) GENERAL advice being given, I feel a need to caution that there are some psychiatric conditions more than others which medicine can improve -- and some where medicine is absolutely necessary on a life-saving basis.

That was a really nice comment, Babs. Nicely expressed as well. I'm really glad I read it.

~Douglas
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☆ The Splintered Mind - Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude