I appreciate Martin's stance about qualifications, but I would suggest that SOME variants of depression are precipitated by simply not having enough connections to communicate with, leading to a buildup of unexpressed views and consequent mental paralysis of some sort. Sometimes, just swapping ideas and feelings with peopel willing to respond is enough to start a path out of such a state.

This does not pretend to address more solid kinds of clinical depression. The word is a portfolio term that can be used to describe a wide spectrum of conditions which may include biological roots, deeper psychological causes, or be transient, temporary, and addressable by ordinary friendships.

A