Clearly you have put some time and effort into trying to understand why people get depressed. We live in a time where, although not perfect, people with depression are treated like human beings. There was a time that if you were clinically depressed, you were locked into an assylum and your disorder not differentiated from other psychiatric problems. They were little better than jails. If you go back even further, people with psychiatric disorders, including depression were thrown in dank, cold cells with nothing more than a pile of straw to sleep on, and hosed down with cold water when the guards decided you needed cleaning up. I can't imagine the terror.

My guess is that long ago, if you were depressed, you died. (I"m talking thousands and thousands of years ago). There was no room for weakness, and those that couldn't keep up were taken out of the gene pool.

Having been on the depression train for forty years, I agree that there has been tremendous strides in understanding and treating depression. The medications psychiatrists used on me left me non-functional, nauseated and halllucintating. Today there are new ones, but they still have side effects. (I always find it ironic that the fine print on the adds for antidepressants list suicide as a side effect).

Who knows. One day we may find that other disorders, violent behavior etc. will be something that can be dealt with. Imagine what our ancestors will think when they read about how we put psychotic killers in jail. Lets hope those with the IQs to research these problems continue to receive funding and forums like these will no longer be needed.

Sam2