“Joy does not simply happen to us,” wrote spiritual author Henri Nouwen. “We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” I find choosing joy and trying to experience joy to be among the most difficult tasks when you are depressed. And yet it is critical to try to reconnect with those persons, places,...

There’s such a thing as trying too hard. Anyone who has ever suffered through a case of insomnia knows this well. The harder you try to sleep, the less rest you get. Sleep only comes if you can relax and let go. It’s true for many other things, too. Like garage-door controls. The other day,...

A team of researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently discovered why the drug ketamine may act as a rapid antidepressant. Ketamine is best known as an illicit, psychedelic club drug. Often referred to as “Special K” or a “horse tranquilizer” by the media, it has been around since the 1960s and is a staple...

There are four distinct types of people when it comes to weather and mood, according to a study published in Emotion in 2011. Summer Lovers (better mood with warmer and sunnier weather) Unaffected (weak associations between weather and mood) Summer Haters (worse mood with warmer and sunnier weather) Rain Haters (particularly bad mood on rainy days) Although my mood...