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By Root 893 0

a dominant emotion. The first half of this century was the Age of Anxiety, and its emotional tone was captured by Sigmund Freud. Freud lived through the death throes of the Hapsburg Empire and then through the horrors of World War I and its chaotic aftermath. Freud watched a world order that had stood for hundreds of years dissolve and a new one struggle to be born. Times when old values crumble and the future is unpredictable are times fraught with anxiety. Anxiety was the dominant emotion Freud saw in his patients, and it was the dominant theme of contemporary writing, film, and painting. Small wonder that Freud believed that all neuroses and almost all human action stemmed from anxiety. All the other emotions—depression, awe, anger, embarrassment, shame, and guilt—were just footnotes.

Our age, in contrast, is an age of uncontrollability and helplessness. Our values are stable, but the struggle by individuals and groups never before enfranchised to emerge from helplessness and achieve power dominates our politics, our literature, what now passes as the humanities, and what therapists see in the clinic. Depression is the emotion that comes in the wake of helplessness, individual failure, and unrealized attempts to gain power. For our age, depression and sadness are the dominant emotions, and anxiety, while more important than a footnote, has yielded center stage.1

TEST YOUR DEPRESSION

To determine how depressed you are, take this widely used test called the CES-D (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression). It was developed by Lenore Radloff at the Center for Epidemiological Studies of the National Institute of Mental Health. Circle the answer that best describes how you have felt over the past week.

I was bothered by things that usually don’t bother me.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)

2 Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days)

3 Most or all of the time (5–7 days)

I did not feel like eating; my appetite was poor.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)

2 Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days)

3 Most or all of the time (5–7 days)

I felt that I could not shake off the blues even with help from my family and friends.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)

2 Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days)

3 Most or all of the time (5–7 days)

I felt that I was not as good as other people.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)

2 Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days)

3 Most or all of the time (5–7 days)

I had trouble keeping my mind on what I was doing.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)

2 Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days)

3 Most or all of the time (5–7 days)

I felt depressed.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)

2 Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days)

3 Most or all of the time (5–7 days)

I felt that everything I did was an effort.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)

2 Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days)

3 Most or all of the time (5–7 days)

I felt hopeless about the future.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)

2 Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days)

3 Most or all of the time (5–7 days)

I thought my life had been a failure.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)

2 Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days)

3 Most or all of the time (5–7 days)

I felt fearful.

0 Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)

1 Some or a little of the time (1–2 days)