A blogger once took me to task – quite publicly – for naming our applications “Optimism”. According to him, they should be called “Hope”. Without a doubt.

I’ve always been puzzled by this. “Optimism” has an element of confidence, with an expectation of progress. Hope is more wishful* . You could say that hope is a precursor to optimism.

With applications unashamedly named “Optimism”, naturally enough I’m very interested in the role of optimism in improving mental health.

In the Huffington Post Dr. Tian Dayton recently wrote about how optimism can be learned, drawing on the well known work of Martin Seligman. Seligman’s work has been foundational in understanding helplessness as a learned psychological condition, and “learned optimism” as its remedy.

From the article:

“Optimists, according to research tend to be healthier, are more active, eat more fruits and vegetables and spend more time actively with others. So who wouldn’t want to be one? The question is, can optimism be learned, and if so, wouldn’t that be a great New Year’s resolution…”

Read more of the article at the Huffington Post, or visit Martin Seligman’s home page at Authentic Happiness.

* except Christian hope, which in the Bible means confident expectation – the return of Christ, transformation and eternal life.

Another of my favorite writers is Alistair McHarg, author of Invisible Driving, Moonlit Tours and Washed Up. His writing is full of absurdities about life and mental illness, a throwback to his wild experience of full-blown mania.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading “Invisible Driving” a few years ago – it is one of only five books that I haven’t recycled.  The first chapter is still on this blog to read, together with an interview about the book.

Alistair is in fine form in his Funny in the Head blog on Healthy Place, where he sets out his new year’s resolutions:

“Lately it’s become fashionable to speculate about the mental illnesses of historical figures, and even diagnose them! It’s a wildly unscientific practice, and easy to parody, but I think I can do better…In upcoming blogs I resolve to diagnose the mental illnesses of popular cartoon characters, and even provide treatment programs.”

To read other unusual resolutions visit Alistair’s latest post.

One of my favorite blogs is Colony of Losers.

There are hundreds of “patient blogs”* out there. Cathartic musings, accounts of lived experience, rants, advice for people with the same condition.

Colony of Losers is different. It is all of these things, but not so much a blog, or weblog, as a well written story. The author is Michael Kimber, a 26 year-old journalist who recounts his crippling depression, anxiety and insomnia. He finds no cure for them except his decision to change.

If you like very dry, self-effacing humor, mixed with a very real, raw experience of mental illness, and don’t mind the absence of a family friendly tag, then this blog could really suit you.

Here is an excerpt from chapter 1:

“There is rarely a moment when I’m not thinking. Thinking used to be my favorite activity. Now it’s a terrifying marathon with no finish line. Where once I used my imagination to create stories, I now use it to imagine every single thing that can go wrong. When I discover something to fear I plan against it. I have lost my creativity, my kindness, my sense of humor to a security system that is intended to keep me safe from the world but is isolating me, step by step, from everyone I know. All I can think about is what I am not supposed to think about. All of my protections have simply given me a complete and unbreakable focus.

And I can see myself out of the corner of my eye as I used to be. As I really am. I can see how unreasonable I am, I just can’t feel it. This is the terror of mental illness. Being separated by the tiniest and longest inch in the world from everything that keeps me in the world.”

Read more…Colony of Losers – The Cure chapter 1 .

* internet term, not mine

There is a common misconception that all depression is biological in origin: a simple deficiency in certain brain chemicals. Too often it is treated as a homogenous illness, not a spectrum of disorders with biological and / or non-biological causes.

I found an interesting article by “Boring Old Man” (otherwise anonymous) that addresses this issue in a historical perspective. It touches on what I would call a “dumbing down” of diagnostic criteria, and the influence of politics and big pharma money.

“If probably not biological mental illness is not to be in the domain of psychiatry, let it go and make no claim that the DSM-5 [or psychiatry] is comprehensive. If psychiatry intends to continue being a specialty that treats mental illness proper, reflect the probably not biological mental illnesses in the DSM-5 revision accurately – beginning with the deconstruction of Major Depressive Disorder. Otherwise, psychiatry will continue to be a pretend science dwindling into irrelevance. I’ve got a hunch that 2012 will be a year when that choice will probably have to be made, one way or another…”

Read the full article at 1 Boring Old Man » probably, in 2012….

“Many psychologists profess the benefits of exercise to patients struggling with depression, anxiety and addiction, but Joel Ingersoll doesnt stop there. At the Center for Psychological Health & Fitness in Oradell, Ingersoll has an office for psychotherapy sessions and two private fitness rooms.”

This is brilliant. Exercise is so good for mental health, but the motivation is rarely there when you need it most. This counsellor provides the encouragement and the opportunity to get going. A unique skill set: therapist and personal trainer.

Read the full article: Psychologists therapy treats mind and body.