ADHD is a very interesting subject that sits rather close to me. It’s something that isn’t understood too well and the link to depression and bipolar is very interesting.

Complicating the picture further, ADHD frequently goes hand in hand with depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, and it can be difficult to untangle which came first. “It’s very common for someone to be treated for depression or anxiety for years, and have the therapist not notice the ADHD

One thing I do believe is that it’s over-diagnosed.

Jonah Lehrer’s article, Depression’s Upside, brings up a number of interesting points on the potential upside to being depressed – whether it be that sadness doesn’t (necessarily) need to be medicated, the correlation between attention and depression or how there can be an upside to being sad (i.e. dealing with your feelings versus setting them aside). Interesting stuff I can relate to.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Facebook lately. There’s definitely an aspect of it I like – knowing what everyone is up to without having to put too much effort in emailing or (worse) picking up the phone. Having said that, there is an aspect I am really finding to be disturbing – and, unfortunately I’m having a hard time putting to words what it is I despise. The best way I can put it is that I don’t like knowing what some people are up to, but I don’t have any reason not to be their “friend”.

This research piece is the closest thing I’ve read to capturing some of what I’ve been thinking (er, I should say it spurred my thoughts versus capturing, anyway). Basically, I believe that there is a tremendous amount of influence within certain aspects of all these friends we have. However, I think there is a negative aspect that people aren’t considering. A couple of thoughts I lifted from the article follow.

“How we feel, what we know, whom we marry, whether we fall ill, how much money we make, and whether we vote all depend on the ties that bind us.”

…

Controlling for environmental factors and the tendency of birds of a feather to flock together—happy people prefer hanging out with other happy people—Christakis and Fowler found that we really do emulate those we care about, whether we mean to or not. Being connected to a happy person, for instance, makes you 15 percent more likely to be happy yourself.

I’ve really been considering deleting my facebook account. I’ve got a number of other online personas (www.joshpremuda.com/about has most of them, but my internet handle is usually ‘joshpremuda’, so start there) where you can see what I’m up to, so the need for another outlet is minimal unless facebook is the only place people track me.

For a bit of an experiment, I only checked facebook once this past week (gasp!) and frankly, I didn’t miss it. I get my information from elsewhere. So, now I’m really wondering what value I’m getting from it. Do I keep it because I’m providing value to others?

Facebook seems to be on a slippery slope. I feel like it could be very unhealthy to check up on ex’s, stalk someone you just met, or just get obsessed with seeing what everyone is up to.

Thoughts?

Great advice (on happiness) to remember. And, a reason to maybe delete my facebook account.

The happiest people seem to be very focused on whatever they are doing. Unhappy people seem to be very focused on what other people are doing.

There is some research to show that being sad can be a good thing (kind of mirrors my being bored post).

Bad moods can actually be good for you, with an Australian study finding that being sad makes people less gullible, improves their ability to judge others and also boosts memory.

The study, authored by psychology professor Joseph Forgas at the University of New South Wales, showed that people in a negative mood were more critical of, and paid more attention to, their surroundings than happier people, who were more likely to believe anything they were told.

“Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, cooperation, and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking paying greater attention to the external world,” Forgas wrote.

A pretty interesting NPR piece arguing why being sad may be a good thing.