Who Knows???

In our discussion of mental and emotional disorders, several possible causes of depression and anxiety were examined.  In my evening section of the intro course, some students said they felt that chemical imbalances were the culprit(s) behind feeling blue, apprehensive, or uptight. Others felt that it was simply a question of mind over matter and that a person could and should discipline herself to think only positive thoughts. Christine stated that in her opinion, depression had to do with what was going on in someone’s life and that as time went on, he would “get over it.”

What do you think? Humans are indeed complex creatures, and while there are no easy answers to the causes of depression, anxiety, or any other emotional disorders, that doesn’t mean that we should shrug our shoulders and say, “Who knows?”

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, has this to say: “What a large number of factors constitute a single human being! How very many layers we operate on, and how very many influences we receive from our minds, our bodies, our histories, our families, our cities, our souls and our lunches! I came to feel that my depression was probably some ever-shifting assortment of all those factors, and probably also include some stuff I couldn’t name or claim.”

Do you agree with her? Disagree? Just what do you think about the causes of depression?

What is Success?

Over Spring Break I did a lot of reading that was indirectly related to psychology, and one of the books I read was You Learn by Living by Eleanor Roosevelt. I was amazed and pleased to learn that so much of her thinking fell right under the psychology umbrella!

Although there are dozens of things I could post that relate to the topics we’ve been studying, I’m going to post one that seems appropriate for the end of the semester.  As graduation approaches, hopefully people are pondering just what it is that they want from life and just what it means to be a success.

Read what Mrs. Roosevelt said and respond to it. “Success must include two things:  the development of an indivudal to his utmost potentiality and a contribution of some kind to one’s world….To leave the world richer – that is the ultimate success.”

So what do you think? Was she right? And what about you? Are you positioned on a path that will lead to the development of your potential and encourage your contribution to the world?