After World War II funds for psychology and psychiatry were poured into scientific research and development to help returning soldiers cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Since then, the focus of (and money for) the study of mental health has been on treating pathologies.
However, before this national emergency, the psychological community was prepared to study and develop methods to help mentally healthy people lead better lives for the betterment of society. Seligman, a leader in the study of learned helplessness, has finally turned the focus away from victims and toward the empowered. He is now a leader of "Learned Optimism."
Learned Helplessness
Consider learned helplessness for a moment. The basis idea is that your thoughts on an issue are the main factors in determining your behavior. So, for example, if everything you do to make your life better is pointless, then you will eventually stop doing anything to make your life better.
The simple idea beihind learned helplessness can be applied to our belief about our psychologies. Because the focus on psychology has always been on the negative, we have learned that we are suffering from some mental disorder. ("I'm sad, so I must be depressed.") This belief determines our behavior. We turn to the latest drugs or therapies to fix the problem.
You’re Not Broken
Positive psychology wants to change the learned premise of traditional psychology. We are not broken (or most of us aren’t). We are just focusing on the so-called broken parts because that’s what we know the most about. We’re in survival mode, clinging to our perceived weaknesses instead of identifying with our total being - strengths and weaknesses alike. So, in the mix of human psychology, there is goodness and disease. There is joy and distress. There is happiness and depression. We are not the sum total of our weaknesses.