You make your points persuasively and elegantly, and I agree with you for the most part. I think much of what is diagnosed as depression in recent times may be

You make your points persuasively and elegantly, and I agree with you for the most part. I think much of what is diagnosed as depression in recent times may be a synonym for despair at these times (echoing Cicero : "O tempora! O mores!"). On the other hand, clinical depression of the kind that has assailed me since my teenage years (and from which my son suffers and showed signs of since 5 or 6 years old) appears most certainly to be genetically caused. I suspect that maybe a physical cause of depression is less rare than you think.