Depression, Anxiety, and Other Annoyances
Last week, Don Dansereau asked me to search on the Thinkerer site for words like depression and anxiety. I was surprised to find essentially no results. So I thought that over. Why would I leave out words like that?
It is not that I don’t understand search engines. People will search on those terms. I think the Thinkerer would have some useful things to say to those people. There are pages on mood and mood management. Other pages deal with relaxing, focus, and self-awareness. All these are relevant to depression and anxiety.
But the Thinkerer is not about what is wrong with people. It is about what is right with people. It deals with strengths, not with defects. It also reflects my preference for thinking in verbs rather than nouns. Or process rather than product.
Those observations call to mind a book that I heard about on IT Conversations. Here is a link to the podcast: Mind Set. The book is “Mindset -- The New Psychology of Success." In the book and in the podcast, Dr. Carol Dweck (author) distinguishes between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Taking on the growth mindset is apparently the “New Psychology of Success.”
I endorse the idea of the growth mindset. It is not new. But it may be new to some parts of psychology. Particularly to a psychology that focuses on what is wrong with people. It is not new to all of psychology. The relevant concept is locus of control, although various other terms have also been used. I like the summary slogan: “There are two kinds of people. Those that things happen to and those that make things happen.”
Depression and anxiety are sometimes part of a diagnosable mental disorder. Anyone with such a disorder needs appropriate medical evaluation and treatment. But these are also terms in common language. Perhaps too common. I suppose that’s why I am reluctant to spread them around on the Thinkerer site. That and my feeling that talking about depression is too depressing.
It is not that I don’t understand search engines. People will search on those terms. I think the Thinkerer would have some useful things to say to those people. There are pages on mood and mood management. Other pages deal with relaxing, focus, and self-awareness. All these are relevant to depression and anxiety.
But the Thinkerer is not about what is wrong with people. It is about what is right with people. It deals with strengths, not with defects. It also reflects my preference for thinking in verbs rather than nouns. Or process rather than product.
Those observations call to mind a book that I heard about on IT Conversations. Here is a link to the podcast: Mind Set. The book is “Mindset -- The New Psychology of Success." In the book and in the podcast, Dr. Carol Dweck (author) distinguishes between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Taking on the growth mindset is apparently the “New Psychology of Success.”
I endorse the idea of the growth mindset. It is not new. But it may be new to some parts of psychology. Particularly to a psychology that focuses on what is wrong with people. It is not new to all of psychology. The relevant concept is locus of control, although various other terms have also been used. I like the summary slogan: “There are two kinds of people. Those that things happen to and those that make things happen.”
Depression and anxiety are sometimes part of a diagnosable mental disorder. Anyone with such a disorder needs appropriate medical evaluation and treatment. But these are also terms in common language. Perhaps too common. I suppose that’s why I am reluctant to spread them around on the Thinkerer site. That and my feeling that talking about depression is too depressing.
posted by Selby Evans at 2:05 PM
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