The Achievement Habit Thesis

In the book the Achievement Habit author Bernard Roth talks about one’s need for success. According to the author, there is nothing standing in your way of getting success except: “bullshit prettied up and called an excuse”. While many people who subscribe to Roth’s ideas that you just need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get to work, anyone who has struggled with depression can attested that what Roth is peddling itself is a lot easier said than done. What is depression, though? If left without help, what might the result be? How do you deal with it so that you can at least function?

Depression is defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as “feelings of severe despondency and dejection.”(Webster) While this definition might be

To Roth, Justin’s death has less to do with the need to feel heard while depressed and more to do with him not having a “positive attitude” and not “learning from his mistakes.” Roth’s thoughts on this can be found in his book The Achievement Habit. Roth talks about learning from failure and how you just need to do and not try when failure occurs. That is a statement that yet again is easier said then done. Roth states that saying you’ll change isn’t enough: “What you intend to communicate might not be what is said” (Roth 142) While this statement isn’t false, it is misleading. Any adult with the ability to think critically will tell you just hearing what a person is saying is not the same as listening. Going back to Justin’s last video what he was saying was more than “I care about my fan’s as people”. It was him saying “ I am at the end of my rope and needing help.” It was desperate cry for

The first thing to do if you are dealing with chronic depression is avoiding self-medication. This can take the form of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, or over eating. While these vices work at first, the high will quickly fade and all you will be left with is another problem you can’t fix. One of the hardest thing to fight is the urge to just let the depression take control to the point that it almost becomes a metaphorical best friend. This isn’t easy. Depression easily can put itself in the place of a best friend, as it can become sole constant in a life and depression can become the