Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
I agree that as a blanket statement, Adler seemed to be taking too much for granted, but in all fairness Adler was writing those words largely before the modern advances in modern psychopharmaceutical revolution. I certainly think the connection is more involved than that statement would indicate, but I do believe there is a reciprocal relationship between mental illness and social behavior. Everyone knows people smile because they're happy, but recent research indicates it's a two-way street: Smiling can brighten one's mood. In like manner, I believe that when we choose to care for others, it has a beneficial effect on our own well-being. Naturally there are limits to our ability to determine the state of our own mental health that are imposed by the physical makeup of each individual, but as I see it our mental health is no more all nature than it is all nurture.
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Like the old Reader's Digest segment: "Laughter is the Best Medicine". I can certainly agree with that. I guess it was Alder's failure examples that really had me puzzled, but as you say, a lot has changed since then.