Dear Shining17,
I appreciate different points of view and the time it took you to post all of your suggestions (and I will try to incorporate some of them into my life). I'm relatively new to PsychCentral myself and have been reading lots of postings. I personally believe depression is extremely complicated. I have no healthcare training. However, I believe there is a genetic component in addition to "the switches" that the environment "turns on" in our genes. I do not discount that we can do things to fight against the depression monster but for some it is not easy. For example, a person who has suffered abuse as a child has an extremely hard time turning of the anxiety and depression that comes over them. Sometimes it was implanted in them at a time before they even had memories because their language skills were not even developed. There brain "remembers" in the parts of their brain where there is sort of less reasoning and is more instinctual. I think it's the same way to some extent with PTSD. Again, I think you share some valid points and hope you keep posting and reading about other people's wide-ranging experiences.
Sincerely, Myst