| Now I think we're running into the strange alleyways in our concept of depression. Do people with depression have no agency in their depression? I think it depends. Depression can be a disposition, ie. someone is disposed to being depressed but not always depressed. Depression can be a mental state, ie. I'm depressed right now. Depression can also be a clinical diagnosis, ie. you are lacking such and such chemical balance and that is your depression and you require such and such to "fix" it. Depression can be an emotion or a feeling, ie. I feel depressed, or that poet is describing or manifesting their depression in their words. Depression can be a cause and a reason, in the sense that one (an agent) gives a reason for their actions. The concept of depression has different degrees of agency. In some clinical cases, none at all. That seems controversial until you realize depression is a complex and flexible concept. This study seems to have not clarified what exactly they are talking about when they describe people as depressed. |
> In three studies, _clinically depressed_ participants were more likely than nondepressed participants to use emotion-regulation strategies in a direction that was likely to maintain or increase their level of sadness. (emphasis mine)