Positive thinking

Robert S. Colter, University of Wyoming Depression is on the rise. A study conducted by the World Health Organization found an increase of 20 percent in depression cases within just a decade. I work on a university campus. One might expect such a place to feel vibrant and energetic, but lately there seems to be more fatigue and malaise. Even for me, on some days it can feel hard to face the world. As a scholar of ancient philosophy and a practicing stoic , I have found great solace in the works of Roman stoic philosophers such as Marcus Aurelius , emperor of Rome, and Epictetus , teacher of Stoic philosophy and a former slave. What tools do these ancient thinkers offer to deal with depression? Of course, I must add here that clinical depression, which is a serious health issue and should be treated by a professional, is a different matter than the sort of ordinary depression and fatigue that most of us might feel from time to time. What is stoicism? Stoici...

Joan Cook, Yale University The term demoralization was originally coined in the 1970s by a psychiatrist who was seeing patients that didn’t quite meet full criteria for major depression. Nonetheless, they were suffering – in a shared state of emotional distress and sense of incompetence. For many Americans, we are experiencing this now in the wake of the Oct. 1 massacre in Las Vegas, one of the worst mass shootings in our nation’s history. These horrific events break our hearts and, some days, come close to breaking our spirits. We feel discouragement, confusion and uncertainty mixed with collective impotence. As a clinical psychologist and associate professor at Yale School of Medicine, I’m concerned about our collective mental health. I know that the effects of these tragedies affect us all, at least in some small or significant way. I also believe that there are some steps to take to help us heal. Effects of demoralization Numerous studies have shown the ...