Wu Wei, Negativity, and Depression: The Principle of Non-Trying in the Practice of Pastoral Care

by Sorajjakool; Siroj

• ISBN13: 9780789010933
• ISBN10: 0789010933
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-08-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Discover a pastoral approach to depression that combines Eastern wisdom and Western science! Wu Wei, Negativity, and Depression reveals a way to break the cycle of depression, not by denying it or fighting it, but by the ancient principle of wu wei, non-trying. The bleak cycle of depression starts when people experience negativity. They turn inward to try to find self-esteem, but the negativity strips all the power of self-affirmation from them. The gap between is and ought--how they see themselves and how they want to be--is too great to bridge. The cycle known as self-regulatory perseveration means that depressed persons are caught in a desperate, fruitless search for affirmation. Instead of self-esteem, they find self-criticism and further negative thoughts. Yet they keep looking . . . and looking . . . and looking. The more they look for self-worth inside, the less they find, and the harder they try--the cycle continues. When trying simply doesn't work, wu wei, the principle of letting go, may help break that cycle. When trying simply doesn't work, wu wei, not-trying, may help. Wu wei is the principle of letting go. By giving up on the self-imposed and unattainable oughts and shoulds, the depressed person stops focusing on self. Wu wei breaks the cycle of negativity, allowing the depressed person to begin to heal. Wu Wei, Negativity, and Depression offers a comprehensive discussion of depression, including: epidemiology of depression etiology and biological causes psychosocial theories standard treatments of the past and present pastoral care of depressed persons This important book constructs a possible approach to depressed souls weary of fighting and trying to fix themselves. Wu Wei, Negativity, and Depression can bring new hope to those who most need it.

Author Biography

Siroj Sorajjakool, PhD, is Associate Professor of Religion (Pastoral Psychology) at Loma Linda University in California

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Ann Belford Ulanov
Preface	xiii
Introduction	1	(2)
Problem of Negativity	3	(1)
Arguments	4	(2)
Limitations	6	(1)
Contribution to Pastoral Care	7	(1)
Organization of the Book	7	(4)
Overview of the Problem of Depression	11	(12)
Narratives	11	(3)
The Meaning of Depression	14	(3)
Epidemiology	17	(4)
History of the Studies of Depression	21	(2)
Psychosocial and Biological Theories of Depression	23	(14)
Life Events and Stressors	23	(3)
Stressors and Interpretation	26	(2)
Synapses and CNS Neurotransmitters	28	(3)
Sleep Patterns and Depression	31	(1)
Brain Imaging and Depression	32	(1)
Psychotropic Medications	33	(4)
Overview of Methods of Pastoral Intervention and Wu Wei	37	(12)
History of Pastoral Care Approaches to Melancholy	37	(3)
Current Pastoral Care Approaches to Depression	40	(4)
Feminist Pastoral Care	44	(5)
Negativity and Trying	49	(16)
Self-Regulatory Perseveration Theory	49	(2)
Depression and Negativity	51	(4)
Negativity and Self-Evaluation	55	(5)
Self-Evaluation and Self-Regulation	60	(5)
Self-Regulatory Perseveration and the Downward Spiral	65	(10)
Defining Self-Regulatory Perseveration	65	(1)
Terror Management Theory: The Motive for Perseveration	66	(2)
The Downward Spiral	68	(4)
Analysis	72	(3)
Wu Wei	75	(12)
Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu	76	(1)
Taoist Philosophy	77	(2)
The Concept of Wu Wei	79	(8)
Wu Wei, Trying, and Non-Trying	87	(12)
The Two Selves	87	(1)
The Prereductive Self	88	(3)
The Reductive Self	91	(3)
The Postreductive Self	94	(2)
Emptiness	96	(3)
Wu Wei and the Sustaining Ministry of Pastoral Care	99	(14)
Sustaining Ministry	99	(1)
Wu Wei and the Cycle of Depression	100	(10)
Wu Wei and the Care of the Soul	110	(3)
Wu Wei and the Practice of Pastoral Care	113	(14)
Addressing the Context	114	(1)
Walking with Depressed Individuals	115	(3)
Encouraging Trust	118	(1)
Expanding the Meaning of Normative	119	(1)
One-to-One	120	(7)
Wu Wei and the Theology of Pastoral Care	127	(14)
Nonbeing	128	(4)
Nonbeing and Pastoral Theology	132	(6)
Questions on Moral Implications	138	(1)
Summary: Wu Wei, Depression, and Pastoral Care	139	(2)
Notes	141	(26)
Bibliography	167	(12)
Index	179