With new technology a person can enter a scanner, like one in an airport, and emerge with a number of definitive recommendations for which clothes will help them steal Brad from Angelina. Keep in mind, the winner gets to watch all the kids every other weekend.
So we have a plan to buy the perfect jeans, but we’re still somewhere in the sixties when we search for the perfect treatment for depression. Not a paltry challenge when you consider that almost 10% of the population suffers from sadness extreme enough to cause them insomnia, decreased concentration, inability to function or even suicidal thoughts. 21 million people in the US alone complain of being depressed.
So can buying the perfectly sized jeans reduce depression? Sometimes. Sometimes just looking better not only reduces depression, but can improve self-esteem and that can improve our personality which can make us more interesting which can then cause people to be more attracted to us which can then lead to more happiness… Ok, you get it.
BUT, what if the new perfectly molded jeans, that make your not so perfectly molded butt look terrific, just don’t reduce your depression?
That’s where all the self-help books that recommend searching within, going for it, and Even Good People Suffer, kick in. If they don’t work, don’t be afraid of seeing a therapist. Most of us are trained to help you figure out what’s really going on.
Gotta stop now, I’m off to the scanner to find the perfect see-through T to show off my six-pack, just like Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte have. OMG, I forgot! I don’t have a six-pack.
Don’t forget to subscribe to Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist. Do it before Brad and Angelina. It’ll make you feel better.
Art Smukler, MD - Books & Thoughts 
The right jeans perhaps can make one feel better…but not for very long. You take them off ..and then what? (Rhetorical) It seems our society (world wide–we’ve got stuck on image problems) concentrates on trite things and never tackle the real subject of self-esteem. Wouldn’t it be grand if advertisers, the senseless TV shows and the social networks talked about accomplishments? Not the Brads and Anjelinas in this super-duper fake world? Real accomplishments matter…like passing a class, doing a job well, being nice to another human, taking a risk and learning from it. I hope others will start talking about building self-esteem, not having it. It comes from hard work, accomplishments, overcoming adversity…never from looking like a ‘star’… Thanks for sharing your insights and prompting others to get help.
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