Colin Feltham - Depressive realism : interdisciplinary perspectives

Colin Felthams wide-ranging and thoughtful book, Depressive Realism , is written in his characteristically engaging and accessible style. This makes for an easy read on a topic that many people find difficult to contemplate.

David Benatar, Head of the Department of Philosophy
at the University of Cape Town, South Africa

Life is to a first approximation depressing and without meaning. In his latest book, Colin Feltham takes the reader on an interdisciplinary journey through this dark worldview of Depressive Realism. Felthams conversational prose is engaging and encouraging, shepherding the reader gently but confidently through a masterful tour of the reaches of Depressive Realism. Feltham patiently guides the reader through historical and current applications of Depressive Realism to the realms of religion, philosophy, literature, film, psychology, psychotherapy, politics, and science and technology. Felthams latest offering is the best one-stop review of this worldview and its applications and implications. Learning about the depressive meaninglessness of life has never before been so entertaining and enjoyable.

Todd K. Shackleton, Distinguished Professor and
Chair, Co-Director, Evolutionary Psychology Lab,
Oakland University, United States of America

Depressive Realism is a welcome antidote to the happiness industry. Through deep and rich investigation, Colin Feltham explores how Depressive Realism is threaded through psychology and philosophy, and in art and in science, in poetry and in politics, in history and in health. Felthams book will be a revelation for anyone interested in the redressing of this imbalance, in realising how the negative is a critical component of our existence.

Jacky Bowring, Professor of Landscape Architecture,
Lincoln University, New Zealand

A brave and challenging examination of the human condition that refuses to take refuge in a false optimism about our prospects. Probing into areas of our experience that most of us are reluctant to acknowledge openly, Feltham boldly recasts depression as both an unavoidable, and a necessary, part of social existence. A book to make you reconsider your worldview.

Stuart Sim, author of A Philosophy of Pessimism

Depressive Realism argues that people with mild-to-moderate depression have a more accurate perception of reality than non-depressives. Depressive realism is a worldview of human existence that is essentially negative, and which challenges assumptions about the value of life and the institutions claiming to answer lifes problems. Drawing from central observations from various disciplines, this book argues that a radical honesty about human suffering might initiate wholly new ways of thinking, in everyday life and in clinical practice for mental health, as well as in academia.

Divided into sections that reflect depressive realism as a worldview spanning all academic disciplines, chapters provide examples from psychology, psychotherapy, philosophy and more to suggest ways in which depressive realism can critique each discipline and academia overall. This book challenges the tacit hegemony of contemporary positive thinking, as well as the standard assumption in cognitive behavioural therapy that depressed individuals must have cognitive distortions. It also appeals to the utility of depressive realism for its insights, its pursuit of truth, as well as its emphasis on the importance of learning from negativity and failure. Arguments against depressive realism are also explored.

This book makes an important contribution to our understanding of depressive realism within an interdisciplinary context. It will be of key interest to academics, researchers and postgraduates in the fields of psychology, mental health, psychotherapy, history and philosophy. It will also be of great interest to psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors.

Colin Feltham is Emeritus Professor of Critical Counselling Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. He is also External Associate Professor of Humanistic Psychology at the University of Southern Denmark.

Explorations in Mental Health series

For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com

Books in this series:

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Trauma, Survival and Resilience in War Zones

The psychological impact of war in Sierra Leone and beyond

David A. Winter, Rachel Brown, Stephanie Goins and Clare Mason

Cultural Foundations and Interventions in Latino/a Mental Health

History, Theory, and within Group Differences

Hector Y. Adames & Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueas

Indigenous Cultures and Mental Health Counselling

Four Directions for Integration with Counselling Psychology

Edited by Suzanne L. Stewart, Roy Moodley, and Ashley Hyatt

The Comprehensive Resource Model

Effective therapeutic techniques for the healing of complex trauma

Lisa Schwarz, Frank Corrigan, Alastair Hull and Rajiv Raju

Respect-Focused Therapy

Honoring Clients Through the Therapeutic Relationship and Process

Susanne Slay-Westbrook

Depressive Realism

Interdisciplinary perspectives

Colin Feltham

Depressive Realism

Interdisciplinary perspectives

Colin Feltham

First published 2017

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2017 Colin Feltham

The right of Colin Feltham to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP data has been applied for.

ISBN: 978-1-138-82354-9 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-74199-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo

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Contents

BCE	Before the common era
BPS	British Psychological Society
CERN	Conseil Europen pour la Recherche Nuclaire
CBT	Cognitive behaviour therapy
DNA	deoxyribonucleic acid
DR	Depressive realism; depressive realist
DSM	Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
IAPT	Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies
ISIL/ISIS	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant /Islamic State
JRF	Joseph Rowntree Foundation
KYA	Thousands of years ago
LGBTQ	Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, questioning