This article rings quite true with me. The pointlessness of school resulted in me barely attending class at all this quarter; thankfully I did pretty okay this quarter. The kind of thinking we're talking about is neither a symptom nor a cause of depression. Rather, both are wrapped up in the personality of the thinker.
When I'm depressed, my thinking is skewed. I admit it. And here's an important point: if rational reasoning leads you to one conclusion and emotional reasoning suggests something else, then doesn't that mean that your meaning of life depends on how you feel in a given day? My emotions aren't predictable enough for me to accept that.
Sure, emotions are very temporal and frequently changing. But even if I am angry, bored, or excited, I know that I also want to and am capable of being happy. Evenmore, some other emotions are often strongly related to pleasant emotions. E.g. if child gets angry because he/she has to go to bed, it's usually because the child wants to play.
People with depression are not always able to experience happiness. And I cannot explain why, but at the worst, I don't really want to be happy either.
Do you actively not want to be happy, or just not really care about attaining happiness?
This is personally interesting to me. I do not think I am depressed, but I find I do not care much about being happy. I admit the experience is pleasant, but it doesn't bother me that it is rare.
When I'm depressed, my thinking is skewed. I admit it. And here's an important point: if rational reasoning leads you to one conclusion and emotional reasoning suggests something else, then doesn't that mean that your meaning of life depends on how you feel in a given day? My emotions aren't predictable enough for me to accept that.