Dr Frederick Goodwin speculates, "There's been a tremendous erosion of the nuclear family - a doubling of the divorce rate, a drop in parents' time available time to children, and an increase in mobility. You don't grow up knowing your extended family much anymore. The losses of these stable sources of self identification mean a greater susceptibility to depression."
Another psychologist, Martic Seligman from the University of Pennsylvania says, " For the last 30 or forty years (the book was written in 1997), we've seen the ascendance of individualism and a waning of larger beliefs in religion, and in supports from the community and larger extended family. That means a loss of resources that can buffer you against setbacks and failures. To the extent you see a failure as something that is lasting and whcih magnify to taint everything in your life, you are prone to let a momentary defeat become a lasting source of hopelessness. But if you have a larger perspective, like a belief in God and an afterlife, and you lose you job, it's just a temporary defeat." (pg 277 of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman)
Diana Tice, another psychologist talking about mood lifters, things people do to help them overcome troubling emotions, says, "Praying, if you're very religious, works for all moods, especially depression." (pg 84)
And I will end with a an eloquent passage from the Quran to sum all of this up:
"O ye who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance and prayer: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere.... Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods, lives and the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.―Who say: when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah we belong and to Him is our return." They are those on whom (descend) blessings from their Lord and Mercy and they are the ones that receive guidance." Quran 153-157
(originally posted on facebook on the 16th of June 2013)
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