A few years ago, I visited an Ivy League school to learn about recent discoveries in the fields of science and medicine. The most striking thing I heard wasn't about cutting-edge research, but about the state of mental health among students on campus: one in four took anti-depressants in order to function at school.
Even more troubling: if your son or daughter is in college in the United States, the chances are one in 10 that he or she will seriously consider suicide.
As I considered what a stumbling block emotional turmoil can be in the life of a promising young student, I realized we all know someone -- a family member, a friend, even ourselves -- who faces emotional challenges and needs help.
It's not always easy to find effective help. Part of the reason is that some of us look for a quick fix from the largely unregulated "get happy" industry. We are inundated by self-help books, films, shows, infomercials, seminars, and mega-events promising happiness in just three easy steps.
We are told to get in touch with our inner core, embrace a few "truths" and we'll be free of ills and insecurities. Think positive thoughts. Lose weight. Make money. Save money. Find love. Get married. Act young. Lose weight, again.
Research shows that no more than five percent of what's offered by the $10 billion-a-year for-profit self-help industry will work.
The good news, I learned in producing This Emotional Life, a three-part series that aired on PBS this week, is that effective, proven, help is out there. Science and research can put us on a more informed path to emotional health and well-being.
For two years we explored where our happiness comes from, what we can do to find more of it and how we can better cope with emotional issues.
The real-life stories in the series are powerful, honest and complex: Can an adopted child who spent years in an orphanage learn to form healthy attachments with others? Can newlyweds survive when "happily ever after" quickly turns to infidelity? How does a woman stricken with cancer, a young man confined to a wheelchair, or a prisoner of war find courage, fulfillment and a positive and complete emotional life?
Those compelling stories are combined with the latest scientific information in psychology and neuroscience and anecdotes from well-known musicians, actors and others. (If John McEnroe isn't an expert on anger, who is?)
In addition to the documentary, the project includes a website with broad and substantive content about emotional health and related issues. There are blogs by a variety of experts, including writers, researchers and mental health professionals. There is a list of more than 2,500 resources with information from trusted sources such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. You can also find other people in your area who are interested in getting together to talk about emotional health.
And if you missed the series during broadcast, you can watch full episodes at the website until January 20.
Through producing this project we learned that companionship is a basic need for human beings. Beyond the necessities of food, water, and shelter, a key to maintaining emotional and physical well-being -- from our first to our last breath -- resides in our ability to positively connect with people. The nature of our earliest relationships and experiences actually affects the way our brains grow.
One question scientists still hope to answer is whether there's a period of time where children must receive a certain kind of emotional input for their brains -- and, by extension, their social lives -- to develop normally. Regardless of the answer, parents and caregivers must recognize the long-term importance of forming a positive social and emotional environment for infants and children.
We also learned a great deal about fear, anxiety, anger and grief. These emotions can threaten relationships and cause us physical harm. Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.
Scientists are learning a great deal about the importance of individual resiliency in managing difficult situations and experiences. Recent studies of soldiers returning from war have been particularly enlightening as to the importance of this human quality to emotional health.
There are about 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan military veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. And up to 20 percent of those still in combat will return to their families with combat-related stress disorders, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The challenges facing military families and parents of infants are the two areas that I feel are most in need of deeper attention. Outreach programs have been launched and if you need help you can get information on the website.
In the last decade, researchers have learned about the mysteries of emotions and the forces that shape them. There are no magic fixes. But there is hope and help for those who take a thoughtful approach to a balanced emotional life. Looking for important answers is the first step. This Emotional Life tries to find those answers in the right places, which is the best step.
Philanthropist Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, is the founder and chairman of Vulcan Productions, Inc., an independent film production company. This Emotional Life aired this week on PBS stations nationwide.
Dr. Paula Bloom: PBS' 'This Emotional Life': Your Diagnosis Does Not Define You
The Government, you probably helped elect because Obama raised hope that things would change, has now spent the first year bailing out the rich and maintaining their wealth and securing their futures. The American people were/are virtually ignored. Joblessness and foreclosures increase while the stock market has climbed 25%. There are 37 million Americans on food stamps and millions more expecting to join them.
But emotional health means accepting? Accept that your government isn't your government but their government? Accept that if help gets to you it will be the kind Ronald Reagan promised, that we are still waiting for, the trickle down variety.
Accept? Stay cool? Manage your expectations? Have compassion for the rich? Tune out and and turn on? Stay passive and this too shall pass?
Put your brain in a suspended state, don't think too much. Live and let live.
This is what brought us to the edge of the precipice. Our emotional state should reflect reality. If in reality you are getting a raw deal despite your best efforts, it may be because some people are playing you for a sucker.
Passivity has transferred huge amounts of wealth from us(passive, emotionally neutered peasants) to the rich in record numbers. I think this situation calls for the proper emotional response, anger, rage, action in defense of what is left of our life and our childrens' lives.
We're brought up and taught that we should strive for advancement. Make something of ourselves.
More education translates to more money. Everything always comes down to more money.
Then at some point you come to the realization that the only thing any of us really has is time. You look back on your life and the only thing that really matters is relationships and whatever small amount of "good" you managed to accomplish.
The two goals are basically incompatible, and I see no solution under a capitalistic ideology.
It'd be nice if we could all compete a little less and help each other a little more. Maybe if that happened there'd be no need for conflict. There always has to be someone, or some group, that has to have it all.
Children have to learn to share. Maybe its time for adults to grow up as well
There are a lot of people who are depressed that do not deserve to be categorized as mentally ill only because there are proper reasons why these people got into a depressed state to begin with. Whether this is because of bullying, or because of violence inflicted upon them which thereafter caused psychological/psychiatric injury, it is then helpful, actually CRUCIAL to correctly identify/'label' these people as having suffered trauma because most times, they are NOT ABLE to defend themselves properly against the person/s that inflicted the trauma to them.
Depression, hypervigilance are symptoms of PTSD. Justice has a big role in helping victims that are suffering from PTSD.
It's time to recapture the simple values of self respect and connecting with others with compassion. Isolationism is a culprit that diminishes the human spirit. Our youth need guidance and mentorship, knowing that someone cares. With peer pressure, the need to 'fit in' begs for aligning with the self, and experiencing the stillness within. From this place a Knowing emerges, of “what serves our highest good".
Pain, anxiety and confusion diminish and take on a renewed perspective, when we reach inside the core of our heart's truth. This has been the quest of great sages, to live in truth, simplicity and Love. Mediation, physical exercise, bonding with loved ones, facing our challenges and discovering techniques to handle anger, emotional trauma, and grief is a beginning step to peaceful living and happiness.
MerrieWay Community offers “Morph America” and “Peace Smarts” quantum learning curriculums that bring practical skills, problem solving and positive solution finding to youth’s queries and challenges. Thousands have benefited using the uplifting incubation process to blast past limitations to inspiration. Engaging parents, teachers and the community at large is vital. Acknowledging differences and unique qualities, active participation through volunteering promotes Unity in Community… where youth find purpose, personal value, and joy in giving…ultimately leading to a happier, fulfilled life.
We are on the same page…thank you! “MerrieWay Day “TV our upcoming show is dedicated to uplifting life-style, and bringing on the Happy.
If that does not work try a shot of wiskey with a good joint.
If that does not work simply beleive in yourself and realize "the World is unfolding as it should", that the difference of FATE and CAUSE and EFFECT is a very thin line. As Shakespear would say, "you do not control lifes role, but how YOU play it.
The 12 steps would say, manage YOUR expectations. You cannot control if the sun shines, but you can accept that fact it is raining and you did not created it or can do a damn thing about it. Accept it for what it is and let it be.
There is no gaurantees it is what it is, MAN
Emotions may be THE key to good or poor health. Thoughts like fear, anger, rage, anxiety, jealously, or any of the negative emotions are energy packets. They can become trapped in your body and manifest into physical ailments. Highly respected researchers, physicians, and physicists believe this.
Breath through your heart and embrace love, peace, bliss, joy, gratitude, and you will find life flows through you effortlessly.
GOD the Father, GOD the Sun AND GOD the Holy Gost ARE THE SAME energy and conscousness. Do not expect this life to be perfect
But try for perfection youself. BE RIGHTEOUS (do right acction)