"Yeah, I was really depressed for a day or two after my goldfish died...."

So many people confuse depression with sadness. For this reason, I think the very least helpful thing to say would be, "Oh, you're young and healthy, and people love you, what do you have to be depressed about?" We don't always have to be depressed "about" something. When we have cancer, do we have cancer "about" something, or do we simply have cancer?

I so thoroughly despise that "life isn't fair" platitude. For me, that statement is more likely to plunge me even deeper into a negative state of mind: "If life isn't fair, then I want out of it." For that matter, I hate platitudes in general. Trite phrases such as "stinkin' thinkin'" or "pity party" just go directly to my stomach. When I'm depressed, I need real help, not cute phrases.