Sadness. Ah, sadness. The New Scientist (my favorite online science mag) has a good article on the dimensions of the debate about Sadness. How much is just enough? On this happy day, when a person who seems genuinely self-aware takes the reins (and provokes, not "begs", the question "How much narcissism is enough?") and the nation seems genuinely pleased, let us look at the downside of every upside.
Where does sadness end and depression (or its spectrum-mate, dysthymia) begin? Like most of nature it cannot be crisply defined. That murkiness has been amply exploited by our self-help and psychopharm industries. On the other hand, genuine depression is dark and paralyzing. It stops life. If one is not grieving a loss, and life has a tar-like consistancy, then one needs some serious, professional help.
In high school age kids, sadness is a laboratory for introspection. How do any of us push ourselves harder, or dig deeper, or look closer, if not for the goad of disappointment and seeming despair?
The article traces out some very interesting points: for instance, some depression (or sadness) might be a crucial step down from extended stress, which can kill an organism. There is also a strong link to creativity in that, by provoking introspection, energetic problem solving and holistic expression can step up and meet the situation.
But the link to creativity I think is only half-drawn. A strongly creative person (be it in the arts, among people, in business, in academics, etc) experiences a great range of emotion, not just a strongly marked melancholy aspect. There is transporting joy and connection, there is tremendous frustration, there is hobbling doubt. Creativity is diminished when this range is dampened.
On of the insights I have gained in my zen studies and practice is that if I head straight into my moods (rather than fighting them off) they are more vivid and pass much more quickly. They are transient. From this perspective, emotional distress is more a function of resistance and fear, or clinging to a narrow view of what one should be experiencing, than of pathology per se.
This is not enough, of course. For whatever reason, contemporary depression is a tough nut to crack. If it endures it seems to cause significant, long term changes in brain function. And, of course, it can wreak havoc on very vulnerable family systems. But there is more to the problem than just "I'm depressed, fix me". It is part of the range of human experience, of which no part should be cast away lightly.
Where does sadness end and depression (or its spectrum-mate, dysthymia) begin? Like most of nature it cannot be crisply defined. That murkiness has been amply exploited by our self-help and psychopharm industries. On the other hand, genuine depression is dark and paralyzing. It stops life. If one is not grieving a loss, and life has a tar-like consistancy, then one needs some serious, professional help.
In high school age kids, sadness is a laboratory for introspection. How do any of us push ourselves harder, or dig deeper, or look closer, if not for the goad of disappointment and seeming despair?
The article traces out some very interesting points: for instance, some depression (or sadness) might be a crucial step down from extended stress, which can kill an organism. There is also a strong link to creativity in that, by provoking introspection, energetic problem solving and holistic expression can step up and meet the situation.
But the link to creativity I think is only half-drawn. A strongly creative person (be it in the arts, among people, in business, in academics, etc) experiences a great range of emotion, not just a strongly marked melancholy aspect. There is transporting joy and connection, there is tremendous frustration, there is hobbling doubt. Creativity is diminished when this range is dampened.
On of the insights I have gained in my zen studies and practice is that if I head straight into my moods (rather than fighting them off) they are more vivid and pass much more quickly. They are transient. From this perspective, emotional distress is more a function of resistance and fear, or clinging to a narrow view of what one should be experiencing, than of pathology per se.
This is not enough, of course. For whatever reason, contemporary depression is a tough nut to crack. If it endures it seems to cause significant, long term changes in brain function. And, of course, it can wreak havoc on very vulnerable family systems. But there is more to the problem than just "I'm depressed, fix me". It is part of the range of human experience, of which no part should be cast away lightly.
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