This website is all about exploring the relationship between stress and two of the most common mental disorders in the world today: depression and anxiety.1 Clinical depression affects about 62 … [Read more...] about Double Trouble: Why Depression and Anxiety Go Hand-in-Hand
Causes of Depression and Anxiety
Leaving the Shadowland
A couple weeks ago, I gave a weekend seminar at my home church in California. It was a busy weekend for me -- four talks over two days -- and not least because I had a hard time deciding which topics … [Read more...] about Leaving the Shadowland
Disputing Pessimism
Stress affects everyone, the resilient and non-resilient alike. Being resilient does not mean that we are impervious to the stress of life; just that we have learned to process it in a way that helps … [Read more...] about Disputing Pessimism
A Message to the Suffering World
I am interrupting my regularly scheduled programming (on my year-long theme of resilience and my monthly theme on optimism) to share some exciting news. I was invited to speak on an international … [Read more...] about A Message to the Suffering World
How We Explain Stuff to Ourselves
We’ve all been exposed to enough pop psychology that we know optimism when we see it. Optimism makes us feel warm and happy inside, whereas its nemesis – pessimism – can feel a real drag. Last … [Read more...] about How We Explain Stuff to Ourselves
Ridiculous Optimism
“Light existed all along. Of course it did. Who says it didn't because I couldn't see it?” Gillian Marchenko 1 Let’s do a thought experiment. Imagine you are the photojournalist that … [Read more...] about Ridiculous Optimism