In his book “What Happy People Know,” Dan Baker argues that you can’t be in a state of appreciation and fear, or anxiety, at the same time. “During active appreciation,” Baker writes, “the threatening messages from your amygdala [fear center of the brain] and the anxious instincts of your brainstem are cut off, suddenly and...

Among my strongest tools to combat depression is distraction, and one of the best distractions is watching a movie. Watching the right movie has an antidepressant effect, as it relieves the brain of the obsessive, ruminating, self-defeating loop for two consecutive hours. The brain can readjust a little during those 120 minutes and is a...

The following are a few of my favorites quotes I go to when I’m depressed. They inspire me to take it 15 minutes at a time and give me a dose of hope. Truly, it is in the darkness that one finds the light, so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest...

The lyrics of Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem” go like this: Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. Whenever I feel cracked and broken, which is often these days, I go back to those four sentences. They say that imperfection...

Today I have the privilege of interviewing Dr. Norman Rosenthal, the noted research psychiatrist about his new book, “The Gift of Adversity,” that explores how life’s disappointments and difficulties provide us with the lessons we need to become better, bigger, and more resilient human beings. As a world-class psychiatrist, what have you found to be...