Depression

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."    -Voltaire

The absurdity that we've come to believe is that emoting is bad.  The atrocity we're committing is repression.  The outcome is a whole society that is depressed. 

Emoting is bad.  Is the belief in this absurdity something I really need to explain?  I see very few places in the culture that value healthy emotional expression.  "Men don't cry." Women are "hysterical".  I'm sure we could all go on and on.

Repression is the act of denying your emotions.  Pressing them down, refusing to express them.  If you aren't willing to express your emotions, there aren't too many options left for you other than repression.  Every one of us repress at least some of our emotions every day.

Too much repression leads to a build up of emotional energy.  If that energy isn't released, it can and will turn inward, creating depression.

To recap:  We (Humans?  Westerners?  Americans?) believe emoting is bad.  So we repress our emotions.  Those emotions turn inward and cause depression frequently enough that a large segment of our society is depressed.  

And guess what?  A huge percentage of those who "aren't" depressed, are really just too walled from their feelings to know that they are depressed.  We're creating a world full of people who have no internal health, just by believing the lie that emotions are our enemy.

How do we fight all of this?  Learn to be comfortable with your emotions.  Let someone see you yell or cry.  Hell, just smile at people.  Every bit of emotional life that can be valued creates an environment supportive of emotional health.  If enough of us do it, maybe we can create a place for our children that values every part of us, not just our brains or our bodies.