Low Mood Quotes

“Our body certainly learns from the signals associated with energy balance to adjust behavior: we respond to interoceptive cues to initiate eating when hungry, and food deprivation clearly increases food-seeking behavior in animals.”
― Leighann R. Chaffee, A Guide to the Psychology of Eating

“Our current cultural ethos is that achieving happiness is like achieving other goals. If we simply work hard at it, we can master happiness, just as we can figure out how to use new computer software, play the piano or learn Spanish. However, if the goal of becoming happier is different from these other goals, efforts devoted to augmenting happiness may backfire, disappointing -and potentially depressing- us because we can't achieve our expected goal.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“A chimpanzee is capable of feeling ad, but only a human being can feel bad about feeling bad.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“Just as artificial illumination has freed us from the light-dark cycle, it has also opened the door to night shift work, which upsets the body's circadian rhythm. Electricity powers evening routines that conspire against rest.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“Our species is diurnal, and the best chance of finding sustenance and other rewards was in the light phase (think about the challenge of identifying edible berries or stalking a mammoth). Consequently, we are configured to be more alert during the day than at night. Consistent with the link between light and mood, some clinically serious low mood is triggered by the seasonal change of shorter daylight hours. The onset of seasonal affective disorder, a subtype of mood disorder, is usually in winter.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“Fantasizing about a world without low mood is a vain exercise. Low moods have existed in some form across human cultures for many thousands of years. One way to appreciate why these states have enduring value is to ponder what would happen if we had no capacity for them. Just as animals with no capacity for anxiety were gobbled up by predators long ago, without the capacity for sadness, we and other animals would probably commit rash acts and repeat costly mistakes. Physical pain teaches a child to avoid hot burners; psychic pain teaches us to navigate life's rocky shoals with due caution.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“Our bodies are a collection of adaptations, evolutionary legacies that have helped us survive and reproduce in the face of uncertainty and risk. That does not mean that adaptations are perfect; far from it.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“When anxious subjects are shown happy, neutral and angry faces on a computer screen, their attention is drawn to the angry faces signaling a potential threat Conversely, good moods broaden attention and make people inclined to seek out information and novelty. In one study, participants in good moods sought more variety when choosing among packaged foods, such as crackers, soup, and snacks. Moods have the power to influence behavior because they have such wide purchase on the body and mind. They affect what we notice, our levels of alertness and energy, and what goals we choose.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“When anxious subjects are shown happy, neutral and angry faces on a computer screen, their attention is drawn to the angry faces signaling a potential threat. Conversely, good moods broaden attention and make people inclined to seek out information and novelty. In one study, participants in good moods sought more variety when choosing among packaged foods, such as crackers, soup, and snacks. Moods have the power to influence behavior because they have such wide purchase on the body and mind. They affect what we notice, our levels of alertness and energy, and what goals we choose.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“Depressed people become unable to remember happy times, or times when they even had a normal mood. The very concept of a normal mood itself becomes alien. I’ve had more than one depressed participant offer me a pained smile during an interview when I asked, -When was the last time you felt like your usual self? – These are the disorientations of chronic depression.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“I have discussed how the goal of feeling happy is unusual; its not like other goals such as learning to bake a pizza, for which the desire to achieve is half the battle and steady application is the rest. Pressing harder on unfulfilled and unrealistic goals for happiness can paradoxically deepen depression.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“The tendency for depression to repeat reflects the normal default settings of a plastic mood system that is open to experience. The unfortunate consequence of plasticity is that a long duration of deep depression can reprogram the entire system so that it favors a return to low mood states- the good news is that there is a flip side to plasticity. As wee see with these psychologically based treatments, the mood system can be deprogrammed.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic

“The tendency for depression to repeat reflects the normal default settings of a plastic mood system that is open to experience. The unfortunate consequence of plasticity is that a long duration of deep depression can reprogram the entire system so that it favors a return to low mood states- the good news is that there is a flip side to plasticity. As we see with these psychologically based treatments, the mood system can be deprogrammed.”
― Jonathan Rottenberg, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic