I Did Everything I Was Supposed To — and Life Still Sucks.

I’ve been hearing that from people quite a bit over the past couple weeks. As folks start to think about New Year’s Resolutions, there’s a growing sense of “Why bother?” As one patient said to me recently, “I did all the things you told me to do. I started yoga. I used a gratitude journal. I ate healthy. And now, a year later — excuse my language — my life still sucks. So, what are you going to tell me now that’s going to make my life better?”

It’s a fair question. And there is no easy answer. I flippantly could have responded “imagine how it would be if you didn’t follow any of the advice” but the reality is that the past two years have created immense challenges that typically we see only once a century. None of us were prepared. As a result, our approach to mental health needs to be practical, incremental, and one that reassesses constantly.

I’ve had the opportunity to discuss this with Dr. Phil McGraw, host of the eponymous “Dr. Phil” Show,” over the past 18 months of the pandemic.

Dr. Phil points out that we need to keep in mind that “life is managed, not cured.” He reminds us that no one’s life stays in perfect balance, despite what might seem the case on social media. Even if it were, somebody would come along and add a demand, a challenge, a problem, and tip it one way or the other. And that means that you have to take the…