A Trend of Unhappiness
by Zinn Jeremiah
Judging by the marketplace, and this is particularly true of the US, a number of people aren't doing well. There are more solutions to unhappiness than a single person could likely document in a lifetime. The solutions come in books and lectures, psychotherapist visits and antidepressant prescriptions, and more. The market for making people feel better is enormous. Is this a good thing?
One could argue that a big market for improved living is indicative of societal progress. The fact that there are solutions being offered for a happy life means there's concern for people living a happy life. There's not much question that western societies have come a long way in acknowledging things like depression, and other emotional maladies. In the west the general assumption about emotional distress not long ago was that it was an indication of weakness, or even insanity.
Today virtually everyone is familiar with clinical emotional distress. The term depression in fact has nearly become synonymous with sadness, though from a diagnostic perspective the two conditions are different. It's certainly true that not everyone understands what clinical emotional distress is or accepts such a thing as a legitimate condition, but the institutions of society do. Depression and anxiety and other types of distress conditions are medically recognized by society as a whole, whether individuals want to recognize these conditions or not.
Once a problem is recognized the human species is inclined to try and find a solution, and chronic unhappiness is no exception. Lots of solutions to emotional distress of one type or another have been conceived of. So the millions of people who feel emotionally down have significant treatment
options. But this might be a case of treating the symptoms rather than the actual problem. The fact that so many people define themselves as unhappy may speak to a fundamental problem with society. Perhaps modern society is generally not healthy for human consumption and is actually making people sick.
A method for restoring emotional well-being that's been getting a fair amount of attention recently is something called ho'oponopono. Ho'oponopono originates from the Hawaiian islands, where it's been practiced for generations. Originally used for conflict resolution between people, a newer form of ho'oponopono focuses on resolving conflict in the self. This is generally a different outlook than is typical, as most helping procedures focus on dealing with outward perception.
Ho'oponopono on the other hand presumes all difficulties to be completely internal. Ho'oponopono is not a universally accepted treatment form for any particular condition, though there's growing evidence that it's quite beneficial under many different circumstances. More and more people are embracing ho'oponopono because of its simplicity and holistic nature.
These traits in themselves only carry so much weight obviously. The popular trend towards using ho'oponopono then indicates that something in the method actually works.
Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance author. Find ho'oponopono help
by visiting http://www.hooponoponohelp.com or
http://www.hooponoponohelp.com/god-help-me.htm .
