[di meliora]

Dr. Stephen Diamond poses the question: Is depression a disease? http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...disease?page=2

The views Dr. Diamond expresses in response come about as close to being coincidental to mine as I have come across. His concluding paragraph:

Thus, I submit that depression is not a disease that should be treated in the same way as say, diabetes (which itself is known in many cases to be stress-related). It is a biopsychosocial syndrome requiring far more than pharmacological intervention. The unfortunate fact that most contemporary psychotherapy--including CBT--fails to penetrate to the heart of the Hydra in major unipolar and bipolar depression underscores the desperate need for more effective psychotherapy rather than proving a biological cause for these devastating disorders.

The link Dr. Diamond provides is to an article entitled, Denial and the De-Souling of Psychotherapy: A Reply to "Is Psychotherapy Dying?", is a good read too.

[Rohag]

Hello, Élan Vital!

I do not have a well-informed opinion regarding this question. I lack the background and intelligence. Nevertheless, I can say that I experience depression as a biopsychosocial tangle. My treatment has involved psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, a neuropsychologist, general practitioners, internal medicine doctors, pulmonologists (as sleep specialists), and gastroenterologists.

Yes, for me anyway, it's a multi-headed monster.