Much of what's described in the article is very similar to my own depression, prior to treatment. I was talking to someone recently about this. Paraphrased, he

Much of what's described in the article is very similar to my own depression, prior to treatment. I was talking to someone recently about this. Paraphrased, he said something like "I don't understand suicidal people. OK, you're depressed. Do something about it. Move to the mountains!" If I had tried something like that, I would have just carried my defective brain to the mountains with me. Or the oppressive thought patterns, or whatever the nature of my depression was. As the article said, depression is not merely feeling super bad, it's being broken. If you have someone in your life that's depressed, and you don't understand it, then accept that you don't understand it, and have some empathy. Admit to yourself that you may be generally ignorant about depression, and that you yourself have not competently diagnosed this person's particluar depression. Help, even if that help is limited to not judging or assuming.