Depression is not just a lousy mood that a person can shake off.  Nor is it a moral weakness.  Instead, it is a serious psycho-physiological condition that has far reaching emotional, physical, cognitive, social, occupational and behavioural implications.  Acknowledging this can help people with the feelings of guilt and shame about being depressed that tend to go along with depression.

Sometimes depression is a very natural response to adverse life circumstances (i.e., it’s causes are environmental). Other times it has more of a biophysical basis.

Research indicates that the best outcomes (in terms of recovering from depression) are achieved when depressed people engage in talk therapy whether as an adjunct to medication or on its own.  It is common for unexpressed (and even unknown) feelings of anger to underlie depression. Getting in touch with and expressing these feelings of anger can often help to lift a person out of depression. A trained counsellor can facilitate this process.