Attention cranky oldsters (and their suffering younglings)! A new study on aging and depression has come up with a way to avoid turning into a grumpy old man (or woman): just accept that what you want to do can't be done and let go ...
New research offers a way for this at-risk group to ward off depression: "goal disengagement." Concordia University psychologists Erin Dunne and Carsten Wrosch collaborated with University of British Columbia's Gregory Miller for a study to be published in the journal Health Psychology. Their conclusion in Dunne's words: "The ability of older adults with functional limitations to withdraw effort and commitment from goals that are no longer attainable can help them avoid increases in depressive symptoms over time."
Hans Villarica of The Atlantic has the full story: Link
Um, excuse me? This supposed "disorder" is not in the DSM-IV-TR (and there's no reason to believe that it's going to be in the DSM-V.)So it's not recognized *as* a disorder by the APA, the AMA, or any other official body. It sounds a lot more like a case of a couple of researchers promoting a pet project without demonstrating that there's any decent research behind it. I would have liked to have at least seen a link to the actual study, which the Atlantic article certainly didn't have.
...damn kids...
There is this whole field of psychology addressing the issue of "Domains of Contingent Self-Worth" which is what is described here as a "Goal". You set-up a goal in some domain, that domain and the goal is referred to as a "Domain of Contingent Self-Worth" if and when your sense of selfhood is contingent upon that domain.
Researchers discover that people whose self-worth is not contingent on any domain tend to outperform those whose self-worth is contingent on the domain. So right away, the solution is clear; don't be attached as if your self-worth depended on it. One can have goals, and struggle toward those goals without feeling a major hit to their ego when difficulties arise or failure is imminent.
Hindu and Buddhist philosophy basically teaches what these researchers are discovering; positive and negative self-valuations are not as productive as an absence of self-valuation. If ones goals are all self-serving, then one might want to consider adopting new goals. It is notoriously difficult for human beings to adopt non-self-serving goals though, or to even stop thinking about themselves for a half-second.
Only have $60 to your name, and your benefits check is 3 weeks away, and you can either by your blood pressure medicine or food so you're feeling a tad bit cranky?
Well just "goal disengage" and watch all your grumpiness fade away.
No reasonable person sets unreachable goals for himself consciously. If you do set an objectively unreachable goal for yourself it's because you don't realize it's unreachable.
Does not sound like new ground covered here...just some new packaging.