Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now

by Gordon Livingston

But any change requires that we try new things, risking always the possibility that we might fail. Another question I often ask patients is, “What are you saving yourself for?” In our efforts to be compassionate and helpful to those suffering from anxiety and depression and to destigmatize these conditions, we have equated them to physical illness requiring medication. It is true that the current crop of antidepressants has proven remarkably effective. The downside to the medical approach is that illness in this society is a responsibility-relieving state. The ill are infantilized, sometimes placed in hospital beds, told to take it easy and allow their medicine to work. The implication is that they have temporarily and through no fault of their own lost control of their lives and now have to assume a passive role and give themselves, with the aid of medical science, a chance to heal. While this process is going on, little is expected of them. Unfortunately, this approach can be counterproductive.