[ryanklee]

People who suffer from chronic depression do so without regard to circumstance. It's a mental plague that follows one wherever they go, whatever they do. It has nothing do with reactions to anything. There's nothing reasonable about it.

[munificent]

Some people who suffer from chronic depression do so independent of their life circumstances.

But other people who suffer from serious depression do so in ways that can be connected to their life circumstances and the framework of meaning they build for themselves around it.

I think one of the biggest disservices we do to people suffering from depression is lumping those two categories together.

It's like we have a single diagnosis for "bleeding" and very rarely distinguish stab wounds from hemophilia.

[dgfitz]

I disagree. Mine set in after my first child.

[ryanklee]

I did not say that there is no such thing as situational depression.

[cpncrunch]

It's a bit unclear from your comment whether you're saying situational depression is different from chronic depression. Having seen chronic depression, I would say that in at least some people it is triggered by stressors. Obviously when it is chronic there are other factors at play such as genetics, childhood experiences, etc. which make depression more likely to happen at any point in time.