Sadness, blues, regret, suffering are inseparable elements of our lives – just like joy or anger. However, we are not always able to cope with them and often drown them out. After all, living in emotional anesthesia is not good at all. What to do when sadness lasts too long? How to distinguish it from depression? How to learn to experience failures? Is happiness really the basic goal and meaning of life? Depression is becoming a mass problem not at all because modern people have a previously unknown brain defect or changes in their genes. There are two reasons why this diagnosis increasingly often sentences us to pharmacological treatment. The first is the discovery of antidepressants that regulate neurophysiological processes in the brain. The second reason is the popular belief that happiness is the basic goal and meaning of life. In this approach, happiness is supposed to be a series of successes and good luck, a source of constant joy, providing unlimited possibilities. There is no room for ordinary, although often painful events such as: failures, separations, illnesses, suffering, setbacks, sadness or death. Many people do not want to experience the difficult emotions that accompany them. It is better to numb yourself, and drugs are perfect for this. A visit to the doctor often comes down to writing a prescription. Even such simple questions as: "What unpleasant thing happened recently? How do you intend to cope with this situation? Can you count on the support of people close to you?" are not asked. Without the interest and support of the closest environment, you can get stuck in sadness for good. And this is often a straight path to depression, which can be called situational, and due to the frequency of occurrence - mass. About the speaker: Ewa Woydyłło-Osiatyńska - doctor of psychology and addiction therapist. She graduated in art history from the University of Poznań and completed postgraduate journalism studies at the University of Warsaw. She received her psychological education at Antioch University in Los Angeles, and her doctorate in psychology from the Catholic University of Lublin. Author of many books, including: "I Choose Freedom, or the Thing About Liberating Yourself from Addictions", "Invitation to Life", "Lift Your Head: Shoes of Happiness", "Women's Secrets", "We – Parents of Adult Children", "In Harmony with Yourself", "Soul Cancer", "On Alcoholism", "Matura Revision". She popularized treatment in Poland based on the Minnesota model, based on the philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous. She received many awards for her achievements in the field of addiction therapy and prevention: the St. George Medal awarded by "Tygodnik Powszechny", the Minister of Justice's award for her work with addicts in prisons, and the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland. About the project: The Psyche Zone of SWPS University is an innovative undertaking whose aim is to popularize psychological knowledge at the highest substantive level and to discover the possibilities of action offered by psychology in various areas of both private and professional life. We want to show the practical application of psychological knowledge not only in the spheres obvious for this field of science (e.g. assistance, therapy), but also in the business sector and advanced, modern technologies. More about the project: http://www.swps.pl/strefa-psyche #depresja #smutek #zdrowie #psychika