It seems that there is a lot of blame to go around when one suffers from depression and it can come from a variety of sources.  I think it is a very human reaction to a very baffling mood disorder.  People grasp at straws to find a way to explain the unexplainable.  And logic dictates that when things are going wrong then there must be someone or something which caused it. 

Blame can come from family members or friends who do not understand what their depressed loved one is going through.  Phrases such as "Buck up" or "Snap out of it" come from a place of blame where the other person is saying, in essence, "You could stop being depressed at any time if you simply had the willpower."  It is also a way to express frustration and anger at the depressed person because they don't know what else to say or do.  It is a very vulnerable position for the person who suffers from depression to be in because such blaming statements just add to feelings of worthlessness and despair.  One might take such blame to heart and agree.  "You're right.  I am a loser for not being able to feel better."  The blame from others sets up a negative feedback loop where we then agree to blame ourselves.

Then there is the blame that sufferers of depression attribute to external causes.  For example one might blame their bad genes or other family members who have mood disorders.  One might have paranoia of becoming just like mom or dad was or is.  Yet wishing for a different set of parents or DNA will not change who you are today.  You simply cannot go back to the womb and start over. 

Along with nature, others will blame their environment.  Perhaps you were not nurtured enough, neglected, and even abused.  Here is an instance where I can understand blame as I have felt it myself.  Anyone who has suffered a childhood trauma can feel that pain and rage of what someone else has taken from you.  I cry for the little girl I was and how she lost her innocence and childhood.  One can never get that time back.  I have carried blame in my heart for decades.  I can tell you from firsthand experience how very difficult it is to let that go. 

And probably the most entrenched and insidious type of blame which comes with depression is blaming oneself.  It is both harmful but also enticing.  Any bad event in life is "all my fault."  One begins to believe they are cursed or a bad luck magnet.  Our specialness is gained through thinking that we have this seemingly omnipotent power to cause disaster and heartache.  This belief system often begins in childhood when things happen we do not understand.  My father died when I was four.  All my fault.  I wasn't good enough or loveable enough for him to live.  My mother's mental illness.  All my fault.   I could not save her from insanity.  Do I realize that my beliefs are illogical?  Sure.  But tell that to my inner five year old child who still believes these things.