The Best Books on Depression For People Like You

By Minnisha DeGrate

Sometimes managing depression can be a difficult task, and it's easy for someone battling depression to let their fears get the best of them. This is an illness that can cause someone to feel very alone, and beating it is not nearly as simple as some people may think. For years there have been a lot of speculation about the correlation depression has to intelligence. There are several books on depression and extensive research studies performed on this topic. In this article I will discuss more in-depth information I have found related to this study.

Based on the information I have gathered it is more a correlation between depression and creativity than it is between intelligence and depression. Creative people have a heightened emotional connection to the people and things that surround them, some of the greatest works were created in the midst of deep emotional turmoil. Research has proven that creative people are at a higher risk for depression because of their elevated emotional abilities, there are books on depression that explain this more elaborately.

Some researchers believe that depression and emotional maturity are linked. As individuals who have the ability to confront emotional issues with knowledge and maturity are less likely to become depressed. For a long time depression was known as melancholia, and it is the most well known psychiatric disorder that goes back to the beginning of psychiatry.

Exercise also has physical benefits as well such as a healthy heart,bones, and blood flow. For individuals who don't have the desire to utilize physical activity as a coping mechanism, may find it beneficial to use something such as dance to incorporate this into their treatment. Psychotherapy can be a great help for treating depression, studies show that 50% of people diagnosed with mild to moderate depression achieve symptom relief through psychotherapy. Self-help books on depression are essential to learning how to battle depression effectively. As there are many different diagnoses types for this condition, manic being the most severe form.

In my personal experience as a creative writer and someone who uses writing is an emotional outlet, when I don't write for long periods of time my mental health is affected. Exercise has always been a major part of my life, and when I veered away from it I could feel the affect it had on my stress level and mood. Exercise has been proven to be one of the most fast acting anti-depressant treatments because of the immediate response our bodies has to it.

It is very important that you keep moving and going about life no matter what circumstances arise because the cost of being overwhelmed by your grief, may be much more than you are willing to pay. The advice isn't to ignore the trials and tribulations that occur throughout your life, but just to continue doing the things you enjoy doing the most. This will be uplifting for you and it will inspire you to keep on keeping on no matter what.

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Immanuel Kant's Theory of Evil

By Holly L Wilson

Pablo Muchnik in his book, Kant's Theory of Evil, argues that Kant explicates the radical tendency to evil in the notions of the weakness of the human heart, the impurity of the human heart, and finally in the wickedness of the human heart. The weakness of the human heart is signified in the idea of the weakness of the will. St. Paul confessed that what he willed to do, he did not do, and what he willed not to do he did (Romans 7). The acting person knows the action is morally required, but fails to pursue it and instead acts out of inclination. In this case, Muchnik argues, the agent knows the validity of the moral law, but does not give the authority to determine her actions. Kant says the acting person with a weak heart, then makes herself think that her motivation is basically good, even when her actions speak to the contrary (p. 157). Muchnik holds that the acting person with a weak heart is lead to gluttony, lust, and wild lawlessness [in relation to other human beings] even in the situation where moral luck makes her temperate and humble.

Muchnik shows us that Kant explicates the radical tendency to evil in the notions of the frailty of the human heart, the impurity of the human heart, and finally in the wickedness of the human heart. The frailty of the human heart is referred to in the concept of the "weakness of the will." St. Paul complained that what he willed to do, he did not do, and what he will not to do that is what he did (Romans 7). The agent knows the action is morally required, but fails to carry it out and instead acts out of inclination. In this case, Muchnik argues, the agent acknowledges the validity of the moral law, but doesn't grant it authority. He says, "The agent with a weak heart, then makes herself believe that her motivational structure is essentially good, even when her actions suggest otherwise" (p. 157). He holds that the agent with a frail heart is tempted by "gluttony, lust, and wild lawlessness [in relation to other human beings]" even in the case where moral luck makes her moderate and sympathetic.

The weak heart knows better but does not do what it knows, but the impure heart does not take the moral law as a necessary motivation for moral action but allows impulses of the inclinations to determine her actions. Her actions adhere to duty, but are not done purely from duty. The moral agent's actual motivation is self-love even if it looks like she is doing the morally right thing. Muchnik tells us that this agent changes morality in to a system of hypothetical imperatives.

The wicked heart is depraved and turns over moral judgment at its root. The wicked heart seeks non-moral reasons as a matter of principle. He callously makes use of all other persons as a means to his own goals, justifying his behavior in terms of a perverse conception of the goodness (p. 161). Kant considers this the highest expression of the tendency to evil. This person in principle refuses to respect other persons and even himself.

Muchnik also takes a position on the sticky query of whether Kant's position can sufficiently account for the immorality of murder and genocide. Against Claudia Card and Bernstein, Muchnik defends Kant's argument that even these horrible acts are motivated by self-love. Bernstein desires to use the idea of the diabolical will, but Muchnik argues that such a will would be unable to be legislative and would destroy itself.

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Learn more about Immanuel Kant. Stop by Holly L Wilson's site where you can find out all about radical evil.