I think that due to the influence of the pharmaceuticals industry there's too much emphasis on drugs in treating depression. In my experience, drugs can be helpful, but your life matters too! The official line is that there is a clear line between unhappiness and depression, and therapists can tell the difference. The second official line is that depression is an illness - a malfunction of the brain. I wonder if this has been tested scientifically. Everything we do involves our brain, but it doesn't follow that our brain is malfunctioning if we're sad a lot. Maybe there's a reason why we're sad. A book that recently won a prize awarded to professional historians was about how in Italy it's common to grieve for 20 years or more. Are the Italians all suffering from chemical imbalances? Or do they just see things differently? I'm not saying not to take drugs if they help you or to ignore your doctor's advice, but my experience is that how your life is going affects your depression too. It's a two-way street. One thing you can do for your depression is to try and put positive things into your life - love, meaning, productive work, helping others, the usual stuff. And by all means talk to professionals - even if in my opinion they aren't always right.
