oliver burkeman and rick moody on stopping the search for the “one true secret” to anything (the guardian)

“Indeed, there’s one view of psychology according to which everything we do to make ourselves miserable – every dysfunctional behaviour, from minor to destructive – begins as an approach that once worked well, often in childhood, then passed its sell-by date. We’re not idiots who choose unhappiness; rather, we develop coping mechanisms that make sense at the time. ”