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it can be difficult to distinguish between a foul mood and actual depression.

Physical examinations are always the first step in screening teens for depression so that other possible causes can be ruled out.

Simply prescribing teens an antidepressant is not good enough as a stand-alone treatment.

therapy

it cannot offer a secure foundation for our self-esteem.

People with healthy self-esteem are able to take risks and to give their all to a project or ambition, because, although failure may hurt or upset them, it is not going to damage or diminish them.

It is instructive to compare healthy self-esteem with pride and also with arrogance. If self-confidence is “I can” and self-esteem is “I am”, then pride is “I did”. To feel proud is to take pleasure from the goodness of our past actions and achievements.

arrogance stems from hunger and emptiness.

so there can be no such thing as excessive self-esteem. Instead, it betrays all the opposite.

Whenever we live up to our dreams and promises, we can feel ourself growing. Whenever we fail but know that we have given our best, we can feel ourself growing. Whenever we stand up for our values and face the consequences, we can feel ourself growing. Whenever we come to terms with a difficult truth, we can feel ourself growing. Whenever we bravely live up to our ideals, we can feel ourself growing. That is what growth depends on. Growth depends on bravely living up to our ideals, not on the ideals of the bank that we work for, or our parents’ praise, or our children’s successes, or anything else that is not truly our own but, instead, a betrayal of ourself.

Nor is he someone who ever betrayed knowledge and integrity in favour of deception and unconsciousness.

More than a great philosopher, Socrates was the living embodiment of the dream that philosophy might one day set us free.