We can appeal to some famous names to expand the idea even farther:
- "And, as there is nothing like housework for the troubled soul of a woman, so a general clean-up is good for sailors. I had this from a general petty officer who had also passed through deep waters" (Kipling, Sea Warfare)
- "There is nothing like housework for calming the nerves" (Miss Bianca in The Rescuers by Margary Sharp)
To be serious about the matter, I'm not a psychiatrist but I suspect that we slap clinical labels on things that don't deserve it. "Theodore Dalrymple" wrote that many people labeled "depressed" are merely unhappy and don't require sophisticated intervention. Not all; I know some who do need help. (I'm not talking about professional judgment but the common language.(*)) I think quite a few of us use medical paradigms, and seek medical help, when older and simpler rules will suffice. IIRC followup work with people who survived 9/11 found that catharsis didn't make for a healthier outcome, but denial and repression seemed to work OK. (There may have been a link to it here, but it is gone now, though Schneiderman discusses the matter. He's a life coach, not a therapist.)
Unfortunately too much sugar isn't good for me. Maybe I need to take up cabinetry.
(*)The common language drives me nuts sometimes when people invoke "quantum leaps" or "energy flows" with no notion of what they're talking about.
Doing almost anything helps depression. Lack of energy or purpose is a symptom, so consciously fighting against that is treatment.
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