Interesting point on mental health.

I was listening to a psychologist who studies the history of his field talk the other day. He raised an interesting point: Until recently, the measure of mental health hasn't been whether or not a subject is happy. (Indeed, he who is happy all the time is generally thought of as an idiot.) It was whether a person could do work. That is to say, whether that person could contribute meaningfully to the world. This standard was especially set in stone during World War II, he said, when they had to vet soldiers for the draft.

I remember reading an old Cooper's Commentaries column in which he mentioned how taken aback his wife was, upon seeing a television talk show in which a panel of guests spoke on their problem: they were not happy. Both Jeff and Janelle had been amused at this generation that believed that the absence of constant happiness constituted a crisis.

Friends, I understand about clinical depression; that's a whole 'nother ball game, which is to be taken seriously and treated like the potentially fatal illness that it is. But some folks seem to be confusing diaper rash for ebola.