Self-Management of Depression

Mental health and mental illness are not the opposite ends of a continuum, i.e., if you are not depressed, it does not necessarily mean that you are mentally healthy. If mental health is considered as a separate concept from mental illness, then barely one-fifth of the U.S. adult population without mental illness would be considered mentally healthy or flourishing (Keyes, 2007). So, what is flourishing? Psychologist Corey Keyes argues that flourishing is a state of optimal mental health, characterized by individuals experiencing positive emotions and functioning well both psychologically and socially. The opposite of flourishing is languishing, a state of incomplete mental health characterized by individuals having lower levels of psychological and social well-being, who describe their lives as “hollow,” “empty,” “stagnant,” or “a void” (Keyes, 2002). The three key dimensions of flourishing – emotional, psychological, and social well-being – are described below (Keyes, 2007; Ryff, 1989...

What are Character Strengths? Surely, you must have come across the word “character” several times in your life – in biographies, biopics, moral lessons from your elders, etc. The Oxford Dictionary describes character as “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.” The field of positive psychology defines character in terms of character strengths and gives this amorphous concept some legs. Character strengths are considered as the building blocks of human goodness and human flourishing. They are the foundation of optimal life-long development and thriving (Park & Peterson, 2009). In psychological terms, character strengths are those aspects of personality that are morally valued and good character is not the absence of deficits and problems but rather a well-developed family of positive traits. They are substantially stable and manifest through thoughts, emotions, volition, and action and are influenced by both genetics and environment (Niemiec, 2013). Character s...

When feeling depressed, one often tends to overlook the positive moments that one experiences because negative, irrational thoughts make one  disqualify the positives  in one’s life. However, we can home in on positive feelings and experiences even when feeling depressed by reflecting on and reliving moments of joy and well-being. The three ways you can accomplish this are below: Track What is Working Well You may use a well-being diary  for this strategy. In the diary, you monitor the thoughts and events surrounding periods of well-being for the last 24 hours and record them every evening. This active recording of moments of well-being serves four purposes (Otto & Smits, 2011): With depression making you focus on what is not working well in your life, keeping a well-being diary makes you adept at searching out the good moments. It helps you relive the good moments and feel the pleasure again when you review these moments in the evening. It helps ...

A search for tips on increasing happiness mostly yields notions about how chasing happiness is an exercise in futility. This lopsided description of happiness has promulgated the misconception that happiness cannot be increased. Contrary to this popular belief, there are proven ways to enhance happiness in one's life. One such practice to increase and not chase happiness is the Quality of Life Therapy (QOLT). QOLT has been used as a positive psychology intervention to promote happiness and wellbeing and has also been shown to be an effective treatment for depression (Frisch, 2006; Grant et al., 1995). One of the core techniques of QOLT that you can use to boost your life satisfaction and thereby increase your happiness is the CASIO model. The five strategies in this model target satisfaction in important areas in one’s life, with satisfaction defined as one’s subjective evaluation of the degree to which one’s most important needs, goals, and wishes have been fulfilled. The...