"depression is a disease independent of external factors." I'm not sure this is fair. Depression can often come from bad or non-existent relationships. Lonel

"depression is a disease independent of external factors." I'm not sure this is fair. Depression can often come from bad or non-existent relationships. Loneliness, being away from family, having toxic relations with family, esp. those with whom you live, can definitely be sources of depression. I only get depressed when I'm away from family for too long, for example. I understand one can possibly shape one's view and change that, but often the 'external' issue is a reasonable thing to address. But of course, often it's not like this.