I know that you mean well and believe what you're saying.

I have, however, a major problem with such advice:
It pretty much implies that we're just depressed because we choose to wallow in negativity. It implies that I wouldn't need my antidepressants or have crying spells if I'd just "surround [myself] with positive people."

Many times, the people we love don't love us back. Other times, those of us who suffer from depression don't want to hurt our loved ones or end up becoming emotional vampires. They have their own problems, and I know I don't ever want to add to them with my problems. Sometimes, those of us who fight depression do need some time to figure out our thoughts and try to understand what could have triggered them.

Rather than saying that we just need to surround ourselves with positive people, it would be far better (and far more compassionate) to say that we should surround ourselves with supportive and caring people. Those are the people whose influence will help us.

Many of us have had far too many dealings with "positive people" who have said such things as:

• "You honestly can't think of ANYTHING to be joyful/cheerful/happy about?"
• "You wouldn't be depressed if you'd just quit feeling sorry for yourself."
• "I'm dealing with cancer, and I'm not depressed. Don't you think your problems are just a LITTLE less severe than cancer?"
• "If you would just trust God more, you wouldn't be depressed."
• "You don't really need that antidepressant. Taking antidepressants shows me that you don't trust God to heal you."
• "Depressed people are mentally weak."
• "Where's your smile? You're going to trip on that lip there." (said with a sickeningly sweet voice and smile)
• "It's just seasonal doldrums." (said to me by my doctor. My family took her to task for that.)
• "Maybe SOME of your depression is chemical, but a lot of it is mental, too." (Uh, that's why it's called a MENTAL disorder.)
• "If you were right with God, then you wouldn't care how others treat you. It says so in the Bible."
• "God doesn't give you more than you can handle. You just need to keep praying for strength to deal with it." (again, said with a sickeningly sweet voice)
• "We all need you to be strong right now."
• "The Bible tells us that the only thing we really need is to sit and listen at the feet of Jesus."

I don't need that, and I doubt that anyone else with depression needs it, either.