"The other thing is that if you rely solely on medication to manage depression or anxiety, for example, you have done nothing to train the mind, so that when you come off the medication, you are just as vulnerable to a relapse as though you had never taken the medication"
About this Quote
The phrasing matters. "Rely solely" is a careful hedge, signaling he isn't anti-medication so much as anti-monoculture. "Train the mind" borrows the language of fitness and skill acquisition, smuggling in a whole worldview: mental health as practice, not just treatment. That word "train" also carries a subtle moral charge. If depression and anxiety are partly patterns of attention, rumination, and avoidance, then leaving those patterns untouched risks returning to the same grooves when the pharmacological scaffolding is removed.
Contextually, this tracks with Goleman's broader brand: emotional intelligence, attention as a scarce resource, mindfulness as an upgrade to cognition. He is arguing for an ecosystem approach - therapy, skills-building, habit change, social support - while pushing back against a medical model that can unintentionally encourage outsourcing the self.
The subtext is pragmatic, not puritanical: medication can be lifesaving, but it may function like a cast. A cast stabilizes; it doesn't strengthen. Goleman wants people to leave treatment with capacities, not just prescriptions.
Quote Details
| Topic | Mental Health |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Goleman, Daniel. (2026, January 17). The other thing is that if you rely solely on medication to manage depression or anxiety, for example, you have done nothing to train the mind, so that when you come off the medication, you are just as vulnerable to a relapse as though you had never taken the medication. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-other-thing-is-that-if-you-rely-solely-on-42792/
Chicago Style
Goleman, Daniel. "The other thing is that if you rely solely on medication to manage depression or anxiety, for example, you have done nothing to train the mind, so that when you come off the medication, you are just as vulnerable to a relapse as though you had never taken the medication." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-other-thing-is-that-if-you-rely-solely-on-42792/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The other thing is that if you rely solely on medication to manage depression or anxiety, for example, you have done nothing to train the mind, so that when you come off the medication, you are just as vulnerable to a relapse as though you had never taken the medication." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-other-thing-is-that-if-you-rely-solely-on-42792/. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
