Losing our job. Flunking a critical test. The complete breakdown of a close relationship. It’s normal for our feelings to drop to the floor when life punches us hard in the gut. As we try to understand and slowly adjust to these difficult life changes, we might experience a bitter and potent mix of disbelief, anger, sadness, loneliness and disappointment. But this kind of “depression” could in fact be seen as a normal, even healthy, reaction since it happened for a reason: the various feelings, unpleasant as they might be, encourage us to reevaluate our lives, our relationships, our expectations, and our plans for the future. And when these painful feelings fade away, they for the most part stay away, unless we are unfortunate enough to encounter a new major life setback.

However, the kind of depression I really want to talk about is the unhealthy kind, the kind that strikes many of us for no apparent reason. Continue reading→