One of our favorite thought leaders is in the news again. We wrote about her in an article entitled The Fewer The Better and Sheena Iyengar, an associate professor of management at Columbia University’s business school, was talking about ‘choice overload‘. The crux of the matter is that too many options will either paralyse the chooser or may mean an unsatisfactory choice is made to get out of the choice dilemma.

Now she is back in the news again with her new book, The Art Of Choosing. Particularly for seniors one of her findings is of interest. That is that no choice at all can lead to depression.

As Iyengar makes clear in a page-turning narrative that blends academic rigor with a pop culture sensibility, belief in the power of choice and a strong desire to expand choices has long been part of the American Dream. “[T]he power of choice is so great,’’ she writes, “that it becomes not merely a means to an end [i.e., reaching the best decision] but something intrinsically valuable and necessary.’’

She cites a fascinating British study that found that employees who feel less control over their work have higher levels of stress. The ability to make choices about our work and life seems to be an essential part of psychological well-being. People who perceive themselves as lacking control “are at a higher risk for depression than those who believe they have control,’’ writes Iyengar of the devastating impact of losing control over our lives.

Some advice written for lawyers as it happens may well help in such situations. Prevent Depression By Learning To Be A Satisficer Instead Of A Maximizer. That advice comes from another writer on choosing and choices. Barry Schwartz, the Dorwin Cartwright Professor at Swarthmore College, has written a marvelous book titled The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, which provides one solid strategy. He suggests that being a satisficer will protect you against depression while being a maximizer will increase your vulnerability to depression.

If you always yearn for the impossible dream then as Dr. Martin Seligman suggested you may find that your depression results from learned helplessness. A person who suffers from learned helplessness has formed the belief that nothing he does can overcome the challenging circumstances he faces in life or reverse the set backs that life has imposed on him. Working within the choices you have and selecting something that works for you is the very best way to avoid locking in depression.

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