I sometimes wonder if our - my - emphasis on chardi kala might do harm to those who are depressed not because of occurrences in life, but because of that famed "chemical imbalance in the brain" that is more biological than an act of will.
I think a strong positive attitude will always be better than a gloomy one, but what of the person who is unable to muster up that positive attitude? What if japping naam and singing kirtans just don't bring you out of a blue funk? It's cruel and un-Sikh to lay a guilt trip on such a person. I have been there. I respond to people telling me to cheer up, when I cannot cheer up, by laying a massive guilt trip on myself. That does not solve the underlying problem.
Telling a person with a biologically-based depression to just pull themselves out of it is like telling a person with asthma to "just breathe" or a cancer patient to just stop those nasty tumours from growing. If it were that easy, wouldn't we all do it?
Of course, there are some things we can do that sometimes help. Exercise, good nutrition, sunshine, sleep, doing sewa. All these can help. Sometimes. Not always.
The Sikh community's prevalent attitude toward what is called "mental illness" is antiquated and harmful. We need to move into the 21st century; there should be no more shame attached to depression and other mental illnesses than there is to any other physical condition. The only stigma, if any at all, should be in the refusal to get help when help is needed.
