0.17 Curing depression {cp}  (Page 26/2)

There are two significant ways of viewing how to cure depression, one view is hedonism , which says that well-being consists of pleasure and happiness, and the other view is eudaimonism, which believes that well-being consists of realizing or fulfilling ones true nature. I argue that depression can be cured by simply eliminating negative emotions which would seem to be more in line with the hedonic view. However, I believe that pleasure can also be achieved by finding ones true nature, and that can help eliminate depression as well. This is because thoughts are tied into the emotional experience, if someone thinks that what they are doing is meaningful, it is going to be more enjoyable for them. If someone believes they have found their true nature, then that is going to be a self-fulfilling wish and they will become happier solely from that realization.

Depression arises from wanting things that you can’t have (also, don't make self-comparisons). You basically need to be satisfied with your current state/condition. Even thinking that although things are bad now, but there is hope for them to get better means you’re satisfied with your current condition. If someone wants something that they can’t have, they get depressed. Therefore that is the logical cause of depression.

That works on the small scale too in addition to the large, if you are unhappy with yourself in general, that is probably going to result in a larger depression than if you can’t go to the store right away. If you want to go to the store right now, but can’t, then it might make you sad, but that isn’t as large an issue as if you are dissatisfied with something like your personal life or who you are in general.

What if there is something that will make you happy but you don’t know about it? That is ok because thankfully there are only a few general causes of depression. The human condition can be studied and similar things that people want arise in each instance. Just go through everything that you might want but can’t have and say in each instance, it’s ok that I don’t have that, I don’t need everything.

Wouldn’t ignoring something that you want but can’t have be imposing blocks on yourself, that if you want something, you should let your emotions run free and let the desire go? Well if you do that, you’re going to be upset. You basically somehow need to justify that your current condition is the best thing.

The best way to do this is to realize that each person is an individual and unique, and that a difference should be viewed as an asset. That if you are different in some way, that that way is positive, not negative. That other people appreciate you for who you are. You need to have confidence in who you are and the state your life is in.

Is having too much confidence in yourself arrogant? Yes it is slightly arrogant, but it also means that you have what you want. If someone has what they want, they are going to be confident. That won’t be bad however, because people like people that are confident in themselves because they are easier to be around. Lower self confidence would cause someone to act differently. This is because they would be unsure that each thing they are going to do is going to be ok, so they are going to be hesitant and unsure, causing them to act different and more uncertain. Therefore confidence is the most important thing for someone to have in order to combat depression.