Depression and anxiety
According to the existential psychologist, Rollo May:
- “Depression is the inability to construct a future.”
- "Anxiety comes from "not being able to know the world you’re in, not being able to orient yourself in your own existence.”
MORE IDEAS FROM THE ARTICLE
Although we are currently experiencing the highest living standards in the history of mankind:
- Depression rates are constantly rising in the US since the mid-1930s.
- Approximately 40 million American adults are dealing with anxiety disorder.
- Over 600,000 children of 5 and under are on some type of psychiatric drug in the US.
It is a phenomenon discussed by Carl Jung and is characterized by the absurdity and emptiness of our lives, in the absence of any visible clinical symptoms. And it is all related to the "comfort" of the era we live in.
Possible causes: having more time to overthink; the lack of meaning in our lives and the difficulty of finding our true essence; we are disconnected from nature; we look for outside heroes and lack the ability to take responsibility.
- Let go of the idea of how your life is "supposed to be". Change strategy, even it means you have to face the unknown.
- Embrace your struggles and use them as a fuel for your new life.
- Stop the autopilot mode and be aware and present in every action you are doing.
- Be smart about your finances. Also, invest more in experiences and less in material things.
- Reconnect with nature.
RELATED IDEAS
- In 1885, socialist William Morris proposed that in the factories of the future, employees should work only four hours a day.
- In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that advances in technology would lead to an age of leisure where people might work 15 hours a week.
- Since the early 2010s, these ideas have been developed further, creating a growing critique of work as an ideology, and exploring alternatives to work.
- Post-work offers enormous promises: In a life of much less work, life would be calmer, more equal, more communal, more pleasurable, more thoughtful, more politically engaged, more fulfilled.
The idea behind BAT is that we have to do happy to feel happy. Instead of our mood changing what we do, we need to change what we do to fix our mood. The first principle of BAT is to change what you do. Engage in the right activities and positive feelings will follow.
We can't wait until we feel better before we act. Emotions perpetuate themselves. We have to move now and break the cycle of our feelings. This is how we grab hold of happiness.