Good Mood: The New Psychology
of Overcoming Depression
CHAPTER 4: THE MECHANISMS THAT MAKE A DEPRESSIVE
Why do some people stay "blue" and "down" for a long
time after something bad happens to them, whereas others snap out of it
quickly? Why do some people frequently fall into a blue funk whereas
others suffer sad moods only infrequently?
Chapter 3 presented the general framework for the understanding of
depression. Now this chapter proceeds to discuss why a particular person
is more predisposed to depression than are other people who are closer to
"normal".
Figure 3 presents an overview of the depression system. It shows the main
elements that influence whether a person is sad or happy at a given moment,
and whether one does or does not descend into the prolonged gloom of
depression. Starting at the left, these numbered elements are as follows: 1)
Experiences in childhood, both the general pattern of childhood as well as
traumatic experiences, if any. 2) The person's adult history: the recent
experiences have the greatest weight. 3) The actual conditions of the
individual's present life--relationships with people as well as such objective
factors as health, job, finances, and so on. 4) The person's habitual mental
states, plus her view of the world and herself. This includes her goals,
hopes, values, demands upon herself, and ideas about herself, including
whether she is effective or ineffective and important or unimportant. 5)
Physical influences such as whether she is tired or rested, and
anti-depression drugs she is taking, if any. 6) The machinery of thought which
processes the material coming in from the other elements and produces an
evaluation of how the person stands with respect to the hypothetical situation
taken for comparison. (7) A sense of helplessness.
Figure 3
The main lines of influence from one element-set to another are also shown
in Figure 3. The question we ask is: how may a person, alone or with a
counselor, alter these elements or their effects to produce fewer negative
self-comparisons and a greater sense of competence--hence less sadness--and by
that means pull the person out of depression?
Now we proceed in greater detail, considering the elements within these
various element-sets and how they influence one another. Those who want still
more details on the relationships between these various elements may wish to
consult Appendix A, where all these specific ideas are linked graphically.
THE NORMAL PERSON
A few definitions to start with: A "normal" person is someone who
has never suffered from serious depression, and whom we have little reason to
think will suffer serious depression in the future. A "depressed"
person is someone now suffering from serious depression. A
"depressive" is someone who is now depressed or in the past has
suffered serious depression, and is subject to depression again unless it is
prevented. A depressive who is not now depressed is like an alcoholic who does
not now drink, that is, he is a person with a dangerous propensity that
requires careful control.
A normal person has "realistic" expectations, goals, values, and
beliefs that "normally" keep him feeling good. That is, the normal
person's view of the world and himself interacts with his actual state in such
a way that the comparisons he makes between actual and hypothetical are
usually positive, on balance. Normal people may also have a higher tolerance
for negative self- comparisons when they do occur, compared to depressives.
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