Depressive Realism: And An Antidote

Depressive Realism defines a situation that most psychologists found counter-intuitive when working with depressed patients.

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The thinking went that people who were depressed had a artificially low understanding of how they could impact the world around them. That there were artificially overwhelmed by events. Well, studies from the mid 1980s to now have found the opposite to be true.

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Depressive individuals tend to understand EXACTLY how much control they have on the world around them (which is to say damn little).

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There are 3 ways to react to this. First, massive amounts of drugs. Second, large amounts of self-delusion. Third, a healthy mix of both (call this the Scooter Solution).

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To get the right track of self-delusion we turn to A J Jacobs from Esquire and his essay: I included some of it and a LINK to all of it if you are in the mood (or not in the mood - which is to say depressed; this will brighten you up).

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all the overrated things in the world -- sex on the beach, John Updike -- the most overrated is the Truth. The Truth has its uses, yes, but it should be approached with extreme caution. Especially when dealing with self-knowledge, the Truth can be a soul-sapping drag.

My love of delusion crystallized when I learned about a psychological theory called depressive realism. This holds that the people with the most accurate view of the world are the clinically depressed. Studies show they have a correct perception of how much they control the outcome of events -- namely, very little. (Not all scientists buy this theory; but they’re probably just deluded.)

I’m not just advocating positive thinking; I’m advocating a willing suspension of reality. Irrational exuberance. It’s not a matter of seeing the glass as half full or half empty. In reality, the glass is usually 5 percent full and 95 percent empty. But you have to force yourself to believe that it’s half full so that you can engage and try to solve problems and bring the real percentage up to 10. Because otherwise it’d drop down to zero, and Kucinich probably would have spent his life as a Christmas elf at Macy’s.

Embracing this idea has made my life infinitely better. Recently, I had to give a speech at a conference. The speaker before me was 82-year-old comedian Jonathan Winters. The emcee introduced Winters as the best thing to happen to comedy since Aristophanes. He got two standing ovations and a video tribute. He approached the podium using a cane. He made some cunnilingus jokes. Objectively, an octogenarian comic legend making oral-sex jokes is impossible to follow. And if I had accepted reality, I would have faked an allergic reaction and skipped my speech.

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/the-endorsement/self-delusion-0308#ixzz0nX8qZLM2