[Devthrowaway80]

I'd have to agree, this strikes me as confusing situational depression with clinical depression.

When I was at my worst with my depression, by all objective measures my life was going just great - good girlfriend, lots of money, stable and interesting work. When I started receiving treatment, my life was by the same measures in much worse shape - had just gotten fired from a job for non-performance (due to a total inability to concentrate, as well as the lack of motivation that usually goes with depression), was broke as broke can be, was having a lot of relationship problems and so on. With my neurotransmitters tweaked, I felt better while dealing with very difficult circumstances than I ever did with untreated clinical depression and an otherwise-easy life situation.

I am not trying to dismiss the emotional turmoil that people no doubt experience in stressful and uncertain circumstances like starting a business, but I think it's important to understand the difference between that emotional state and the sort of irrational utter despair that people suffering from mental illness feel. I think the tools needed to address each problem are likely to differ significantly - no amount of therapy or reading r/GetMotivated (bizarrely linked in the article above) would change the fact that I was experiencing the effects of what was most likely a physical ailment.

[Argorak]

Thanks for writing this. I agree, bad feelings and anxiety are not necessarily "bad" if they are coming from an external source, meaningful source. Finding the line is hard, especially as those suffering from an illness quickly find sources if they are asked for.