How I Cope With Problems Essay Example

There are many things in Sebastian Jungers’ “Tribe” that I felt like I could relate to. There was one that resonated with me. “Anger keeps you ready to fight, and depression keeps you from being too active and putting yourself in more danger.”(Junger, Sebastian. Tribe., 2016.

page 74). While this did not relate exactly to my situation as Junger experienced this after returning from a war, this quote still relates to an experience I went through as a child.

Growing up I experienced anger and depression quite often. I also suffered from separation anxiety as a teen. I thought this was all my fault and that there was something wrong with me. After going to a counselor I found out this is normal for someone who experience the type of upbringing as a young child as I did. My parents divorced within a year after I was born and it just got worse from there. My father was no longer in the picture and my mother began to use drugs and leave my younger brother and I alone for days at a time with just my teenage sister to look after us. When I was six years old my mother went to jail and I was sent to live with my grandparents. Here I lived a normal life for the first time. While I had tons of friends and a safe place to live I would randomly become so miserable and rude for no reason. I also experienced mild depression to the point where I would not want to leave my room for hours at a time, unless I had to go to school. This turned out to be the normal behavior and that I could overcome it by talking to people when I was feeling this way, and learning why I was feeling this way. This relates to the quote in Junger’s Tribe on page 74. These emotions kept me from becoming overly attached to people so I would not have to deal with separation anxiety when they would leave me. My anger was my way of not letting my guard down and letting people see me as a weak individual. The depression was a result of me thinking about my upbringing and how I was trying to avoid being put back in a similar situation. This was my brains way of reminding me of my past and how I do not want to get experience anything like this again in my life.

Jungers’ quote showed me a new way to look at my past experiences and the lasting effects of what happened. While I knew there was a reason for these mood swings, I never knew or looked at them in this kind of light. He showed me the positive outlooks on anger and depression as a way to survive and live a better life.