Helpful Quotes From Psychologist Rollo May For Those Experiencing Depression
Depression is a serious mental health condition that typically doesn’t resolve without treatment. However, in tandem with help from a qualified professional, there may be other steps you can take to experience some comfort when things seem bleak or overwhelming. Rollo May was an American psychologist and writer, and those experiencing mental health challenges may find reading some of his most famous quotes about depression and other aspects of the human experience to be soothing, inspiring, or a source of a helpful new perspective.
Who Was Rollo May?
Rollo Reese May was born in 1909. He had a difficult childhood, which would later influence the important psychological developments he’s now credited with. His parents went through a divorce, and his sister experienced schizophrenia and psychosis. These early experiences played a defining role in what would eventually become his views on human behavior.
After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in English, May taught it in Greece for three years where he developed an interest in theology. Upon his return to the United States, he was ordained as a minister and worked in the church for several years. It was around this time that May was diagnosed with tuberculosis. As was the custom at that time, May recovered at a sanatorium over the course of 18 months. This life-threatening illness and the long recovery process strengthened May's interest in philosophy and psychology. In fact, it was after the time spent in the sanatorium that he developed a strong interest in the topic of anxiety, since he had had an opportunity to observe it firsthand in himself and fellow patients there.
May’s Achievements And Impact
Once he fully recovered, May returned to the academic world and earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1949. May went on to found both Saybrook University and a research center in San Francisco. He also taught at many top schools throughout the United States and wrote several seminal books, which still hold relevance today.
Rollo May is considered to be "the father of existential psychotherapy" in the US, but what exactly does this field entail? Understanding a bit more about it may provide the context that can make Rollo May’s quotes more meaningful.
What Is Existential Psychology?
For May, the existential theory is a resistance to rationalism, which reduces a person to just another object to be scrutinized: someone who can be controlled, calculated, dissected, and divided into disparate parts. To May, a human isn’t merely a sum of their parts, but a dynamic and complex being that is constantly in a state of becoming. This view represented a significant step away from earlier psychological practices, and it returned humanity and empathy to the individual. May’s existentialism offered a much-needed bridge between the scientifically abstract and the actual reality for people seeking treatment through psychotherapy.
Some academics opposed the introduction of philosophy into psychology because they feared it would make this science less concrete. However, May believed that philosophy and science should go hand in hand. In this age, science had become fixated on analyzing, codifying, and treating conditions, which he saw served the field but not necessarily the individual. According to May, psychology and psychotherapy should put the individual first.
A Focus On The Individual
To May, the goal of psychoanalysis is to help the individual become the best version of themselves and to pursue authenticity and freedom—even if that meant going against society's standards. For example, he worried that forcing a person to live according to society's often-rigid expectations won’t allow them to live an authentic life. Instead, he thought, it's a surefire way to cause repression and self-censorship. In fact, May once said, "Every human being must have a point at which he stands against culture, where he says, 'This is me and the world be damned!'"
May’s quotes illustrate his belief that a person’s own unique experience should be front and center when it comes to their healing. An individual’s deepest concerns are at the heart of his teachings, and they’re what drove him to alter his view of psychotherapy to better support those who seek answers in times of depression and suffering.
Rollo May’s Most Impactful Quotes On Depression, Suffering, And Creativity
The following selection of Rollo May quotes highlights his theory and can serve as a reminder that an individual's own unique experience is both valid and valuable. The following quotes from this seminal thinker may provide you with comfort, inspiration, and food for thought.
May’s Quotes On Depression
"Depression is the inability to construct a future."
"We are more apt to feel depressed by the perpetually smiling individual than the one who is honestly sad. If we admit our depression openly and freely, those around us get from it an experience of freedom rather than the depression itself."
"Hate is not the opposite of love; apathy is."
May’s Quotes On Suffering
"One does not become fully human painlessly."
"Suffering is nature's way of indicating a mistaken attitude or way of behavior, and to the non-egocentric person, every moment of suffering is the opportunity for growth. People should rejoice in suffering, strange as it sounds, for this is a sign of the availability of energy to transform their characters."
“Many people suffer from the fear of finding oneself alone, and so they don't find themselves at all."
May’s Quotes On Creativity
"Freedom is man's capacity to take a hand in his development. We can mold ourselves."
"The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice; it is conformity."
"If you do not express your original ideas, if you do not listen to your being, you will have betrayed yourself."
"Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem."
Seeking Support For Mental Health Challenges
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression affects 3.8% of the population worldwide. It may be characterized by a persistent sense of hopelessness or worthlessness, low energy and fatigue, a lack of interest in things once enjoyed, and significant changes in sleeping or eating patterns. It can occur in episodes or chronically over time, and symptoms may range from mild to severe. Depression typically doesn’t resolve without treatment, which typically consists of psychotherapy, sometimes in combination with medication. If you’re experiencing symptoms of depression or another mental health condition, you deserve to seek help.
For those experiencing severe symptoms or who simply prefer an in-person treatment format, it may be best to seek the support of a qualified therapist in your local area. For those with mild to moderate symptoms and who would prefer meeting with a therapist from the comfort of their own home, online therapy is an option. Research suggests that online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can effectively reduce symptoms of depression. If this type of treatment sounds like it may be a good fit for you, consider an online therapy platform like BetterHelp. You can get matched with a licensed therapist who you can meet with via phone, video call, and/or online chat to address the challenges you may be facing.
Takeaway
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
What Did Rollo May Believe?
Rollo May is the person who introduced existentialism to American clinical psychologists and the psychological association of America. To this day, he is still the most notable influence of existentialism in the world. His belief in existentialism means that his beliefs centered around existence and freedom of human nature. May believed that a person wants freedom of the mind and body and that an existentialist approach could help a person understand the whole version of themselves. Rather than focusing solely on specific issues, existentialism examines the entire person much like humanistic psychologists do.
He also described several stages of human development and how they come to influence a person to become an “authentic adult:”
Innocence: the pre self-conscious stage when a small child doesn’t yet distinguishes between good and bad.
Rebellion: the stage where a person starts to develop their ego, typically during late childhood and adolescence. According to May, a rebellious person in this stage wants freedom but is still not fully aware of the responsibilities that come with it.
Ordinary: after the “dust” has settled and the person enters a more stable phase of their life. In this stage, the person seeks refuge in things like routine, conformity, and traditional values.
Creativity: once the authentic adult has reached this stage they are beyond ego and self-actualization. They face their fate, destiny, and reality with bravery and acceptance.
What Is The Existential Theory Of Personality?
The existentialist approach considers human nature to be open-ended and that the human dilemma can span over many different experiences. Under this form of thinking in the American Psychological Association, a person is in a constant process of becoming and there is no essential definition to one person or their capabilities. This approach is not quite as strict Freudian as other approaches, but existential psychology and existential psychotherapy have been known to be beneficial.
What Is The Main Goal Of Existential Therapy?
The main purpose of existential psychology and existential psychotherapy is to allow clients to explore their experiences in an open and honest manner. As a whole, existential psychology is about reducing anxiety and guilt over experiences by communicating in a collaborative process of discovery. As with other types of therapy, the bottom-line goal is to help clients understand the meaning of anxiety as well as help them to recover from any mental health challenges. Existential therapy can be individual therapy or group therapy, but it is centered around building a normal adult ego.
What Are The Key Concepts Of Existential Therapy?
There are four primary givens of existential therapy: freedom of choice, isolation, the inevitability of death, and meaninglessness. Rather than focusing on the human dilemma in modern society, the key concepts of existential therapy are used to help a client develop an appreciation for things in life, no matter how small. An understanding of the responsibility that comes with true freedom, as well as understanding societal norms, are built into these key concepts. American psychological associations continuously research existential psychology and existential psychotherapy in order to test the effectiveness of this approach in helping clients find the meaning of anxiety, depression, or other mental health challenges.
What Are Yalom's Four Main Existential Concerns?
According to Irvin D. Yalom, the human dilemma has four concerns within existential psychology: death, freedom, isolation, and meaningless. These are also the same key concepts of existential psychology as well. Yalom, as with other researchers such as Karen Horney and Alfred Adler, had views on psychology that differ from a traditional Freudian view. Existential psychology focuses on freedom and destiny in regard to searching for the meaning of anxiety in a patient. This is done by taking into account the four main existential concerns as possible causes for the meaning of anxiety, depression, or other issues. These issues, as those of isolation presented by Alfred Adler, get at the egoic pre self conscious aspect of the human brain where these issues are believed to grow subconsciously. Addressing these four concerns, with behavior therapy or talk therapy, can help a patient come to terms with their behaviors and feelings.
What Are Existential Concerns?
Existential concerns, often outlined in literature such as a radical student magazine, are burdens of life that typically a person does not have control over. Factors such as death and mortality, the burdens of freedom, uncertainty regarding one’s identity, isolation, and an indeterminate meaning in life are all examples under the American psychological association. Anxiety and guilt, in some cases, are believed to stem from existential concerns regarding freedom and destiny, with existentialists believing anxiety is the dizziness of the dark side of the mind pondering existential concerns. The meaning of anxiety in an existentialist perspective focuses more on a person trying to come to grips with challenging ideas. For an adult the existential stage and concepts such as freedom and destiny can be overwhelming, leading many to develop anxiety or concerns.
What Is Altruism In Group Therapy?
Whether it is helping a person find the meaning of anxiety in their case or coming to terms with freedom and destiny, altruism is a source of self-esteem and increases in self-worth stemming from the action of helping others.
What is the meaning of love according to Rollo May?
Rollo May defined love as the pleasure or joy a person feels when being with someone else. Of being in a relationship, he said:
“The two persons, longing, as all individuals do, to overcome the separateness and isolation to which we all are heir as individuals, can participate in a relationship that, for the moment, is not made up of two isolated, individual experiences, but a genuine union.”
Is Rollo May still alive?
No, Rollo May passed away at the age of 85 from congestive heart failure in 1994. His most notable and influential pieces of work include The Meaning of Anxiety (1950, revised in 1977), which seeks to understand anxiety and how to overcome it, Man’s Search for Himself (1953), which touches on the subjects of loneliness and emptiness, and Love and Will (1969), where he discusses love, theories and observations about why human beings seek sexual relationships and sexual freedom in the wake of what he considered a sexual revolution in the Western world, in the beginning of the 1970s. Love and Will also explores themes of creative living and depression towards the end of the book.
What is Rollo May anxiety?
In his book The Meaning of Anxiety (1950, revised in 1977), Rollo May proposed that anxiety, which was once meant to ensure the survival of cavemen, had shifted from an evolutionary need to an existential ailment influenced by many of the traditional values that push people to behave in ways that are “socially acceptable.” He defined anxiety as the “apprehension cued off by a threat to some value which the individual holds essential to his existence as a self” and
claimed that:
Nowadays the occasions for anxiety are very different - we are afraid of losing out in the competition, feeling unwanted, isolated, and ostracized. This normal anxiety of life cannot be avoided except at the price of apathy or the numbing of one's sensibilities and imagination.”
What are the major points stressed in Rollo May's theory?
Who were Rollo May's influencers?
What was Rollo's contribution to the field of psychology?
What does the feeling of guilt convey?
What is the essence of guilt in our lives?
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