In the previous chapter we learnedthat depressed people don’t get
much pleasure out of life because of a deficiency of transmitter substances,
an excess of black bile, or other factors. Their feel gooders are somehow
broken. At first, your heart will go out to them and you’ll try to make them
feel better—until you discover that there is no more futile role than
attempting to be somebody else’s feel gooder.
“I just don’t see the point in going on,” Rachel says, in her typical
monotone.
“Come on, Rachel,” you say, a bit less enthusiastically than
you’d hoped. “Don’t think that way. You have a good job, friends
who care about you, and it’s a beautiful day for a walk in the park.”
“I know I should want to,” Rachel says. “I know I have no
reason to be sad. There are lots of people who are worse off than
me ... but when I walk in the park, I see lovers hand in hand,
and I wonder what’s wrong with me that I can’t find a relation-
ship. It’s probably the way I look.”Chapter 9
The Psychology of Depression
171
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