Early in my career as a psychologist, I worked with a client who suffered from depression. Knowing that depression is primarily fueled by inaccurate, negative thoughts, I set out to help him change his thinking. Each week he would come in with a very pessimistic view of life. I’d tell him to try to focus on the positive. One particular time, he responded by providing a long list of negatives in the world, including widespread poverty, school shootings, dread health crises, pollution, domestic violence, hatred, ethnic genocide, social inequality, etc. He said, “How can I focus on the positive when there is so much negative all around us?” His answer gave me pause. I didn’t know how to respond. Was he actually correct? Were my attempts to get him to “think positive” simply a naïve overlooking of all the drama, death, and injustice that seem to plague the world every day?
