[DoreenMichele]

There seem to be two general responses to problems: anger or depression.

Righteous anger properly channeled can be a force for good. But if your current crappy situation is the least worst answer you can come up with, depression is the lesser evil. You shouldn't rock the boat if there is zero upside and a lot of downside to doing so.

[padobson]

This was the Eureka! moment of the article for me:

What’s more, once the researchers took the effect of physical strength out of the equation, men and women were equally likely to be depressed.

Humans, and men especially, are pre-disposed to solve social problems with violence. In cultures where violence is restrained or completely removed as a solution, it's not surprising that more men are depressed.

[Terr_]

> Righteous anger properly channeled can be a force for good.

There's a Terry Pratchett quote which I like on this subject:

> Granny Weatherwax was often angry. She considered it one of her strong points. Genuine anger was one of the world's greatest creative forces. But you had to learn how to control it. That didn't mean you let it trickle away. It meant you dammed it, carefully, let it develop a working head, let it drown whole valleys of the mind and then, just when the whole structure was about to collapse, opened a tiny pipeline at the base and let the iron-hard stream of wrath power the turbines of revenge.

[insickness]

It's been said that depression is anger turned inward.

[racer-v]

"Depression is anger without enthusiasm" - Steven Wright and/or Charles Saatchi