Always look on the bright side of life. Is this a hard and fast rule, or a case by case evaluation?.

I have a number of friends who, for various reasons, are undergoing mental, emotional, and/or physical trials. As I consider myself a friend, I include my own troubles as well. While I do believe in a strong mind-body link to be part of the healing process, I get a little irritated--in this day and age, with so much empirical evidence being studied and evaluated about any given chronic problem-- when I still encounter a large faction of the "It's all in your head" movement to invalidate issues like grief, depression, low self-esteem, family dysfunction and the identification of the scapegoat to take away the guilt and shame of generations.