Other editions of book The Comforts of Sadness: & the Prospects of Progress

Sadness for some can become a safe place where numbness and limited expectations offer some protection from hurt and disappointment. If through familiarity, it becomes a comfort zone, the prospects of returning to a more positive, less risk averse perspective may fade, and the mild depression of sadness becomes the norm.This short book has two aims. Firstly to encourage the recognition that how we feel is not who we are. Secondly, to briefly summarise some practical theories that can help to free us from some learned beliefs that sometimes hold us back.In the book we meet Joe, a teenager for whom sadness has come to provide some comfort in a life that he views through the opposite of rose tinted spectacles. The author worked for decades as a probation officer in the community and prison, and more recently as a mentor for Kids Company and several secondary schools.

Sadness for some can become a safe place where numbness and limited expectations offer some protection from hurt and disappointment. If through familiarity, it becomes a comfort zone, the prospects of returning to a more positive, less risk averse perspective may fade, and the mild depression of sadness becomes the norm.This short book has two aims. Firstly to encourage the recognition that how we feel is not who we are. Secondly, to briefly summarise some practical theories that can help to free us from some learned beliefs that sometimes hold us back.In the book we meet Joe, a teenager for whom sadness has come to provide some comfort in a life that he views through the opposite of rose tinted spectacles. The author worked for decades as a probation officer in the community and prison, and more recently as a mentor for Kids Company and several secondary schools.