Every day, it seems, the news gets worse about bank failures, unemployment, etc. The nation seems to be in gripped fear and insecurity. Into this scene comes a new leader, a new team, talking about hope. Is there anyway we can hope? Is this all smoke and mirrors? Conventional wisdom would say we’re in for a rough ride and all that hope will turn into disillusionment. Remember the Great Depression? Could it happen again?

It’s interesting that the word “depression” has a dual meaning. It is remembered as a time of severe financial distress. It is also the name of a mental health malady that has become the psychological equivalent to the common cold. Could there be a relationship between the two meanings of this word?

Dr. Martin Seligman coined the term “learned helplessness” and saw it as the psychological cause of depression. He found that if a dog received electric shock each time he tried to leave a cage, he would eventually stop trying and lie in the corner in a doggy depression. This would continue even after the electric shocks were removed. The dog learned to be helpless. Dr. Seligman later regretted these mean experiments.

Learned helplessness happens when a person (or a society) experiences a series of bad experiences and develops a sense of powerlessness around being able to change things – thinking “that’s just the way life is”. This results in depression, worry and anxiety and becomes contagious, perpetuating itself in falling stock markets, unemployment, etc. This exacerbates the very real problems we are having, causing an unproductive case of personal or societal depression.

In past Tips, we talked about how stress “hi-jacks” the more creative part of our brain and causes us to react in rigid, unproductive ways. The part of our brain that is creative, resourceful and resilient gets closed down and we have a hard time problem solving and finding new options.

Daniel Goleman, author of a book on emotional intelligence describes ways to minimize this reactivity and create more resilience in our psyches. In brain scan experiments with Buddhist monks, and also with ordinary folks like you and me, researchers have found that simple forms of meditation and stress management could enable people to soothe the reactive brain and create a more resourceful state of mind.

So do we believe our fears or hopes? We have a choice. Either way, we will be right. Believing completely in our fear will trigger unproductive behavior and produce negative results, just as we feared. However, if we use our fear as a signal to stop, breath, relax and reflect, we can connect with our more creative and resourceful states of mind and perhaps find the hope we need to move ahead. Choosing hope can produce more hope which can produce more creative action and problem-solving.

Here’s a short exercise from an organization called “Heartmath” which can quickly put you into a more positive, resourceful state.

- Focus your attention in the area around your heart. You can place your hand over your heart to help. Pretend you are breathing through your heart area. Breathe slowly, deeply and gently (to a count of 5 or 6) until your breathing feels smooth and balanced. Do this for about one minute and notice any changes.

- Continue to breathe through the area of your heart and find a positive feeling, like appreciation for someone or something. You can recall a time when you felt appreciation or care and re-experience that feeling. It could be for a pet, a special place in nature, or an activity that was fun. Once you have found a positive feeling, sustain this feeling by continuing heart focus, heart breathing and heart feeling.

- Allow the positive feeling to grow and grow.

Learning how to be more hopeful will make us more resourceful and resilient. This will help us fend off individual and social depression. Remember, you can do this anytime. It only takes a minute but can make a big difference in your mood and productivity.

Kathy Murray, MSW, LCSW
Integrative Health Coach, Behavioral Health Coach, Specializing in training and coaching mindfulness.