being emo is good?1

This is an interesting article in The Economist (27/6 - 3/7, 2009). Excerpts:

"Clinical depression is a serious ailment, but almost everyone gets mildy depressed from time to time... [The] relationship between mild and clinical depression to the one between normal and chronic pain. [Randolph Nesse (pyschologist and researcher)] sees both pain and low mood as warning mechanisms... [he hypothesise that] as pain stops you from doing damaging physical things, so low moods stops you [from] doing damaging mental ones - in particular, pursuing unreacheable goals. Pursuing such goals is a waste of energy and resources.

...

Mild depressive symptoms can therefore be seen as a natural part of dealing with failure in young adulthood. They set in when a goal is identified as unreacheable and lead to a decline in motivation. In this period of low motivation, energy is saved and new goals can be found. If this mechanism does not function properly, though, severe depression can be the consequence.

...

[Dr Carsten Wrosch (researcher)] thus concludes that it is healthy to give up overly ambitous goals. Persistence, though neccessary for sucess and considered a virtue by many, can also have a negative impact on health."

(emphases mine)

*

Hmmmmm... all these are interesting. My question, though, is how do we draw the line between achievable goals and being "overly ambitious"? hmmmm

*