The second quote does not imply that all depressed people are such because they are lacking perseverance. There are several issues with this interpretation. Th

The second quote does not imply that all depressed people are such because they are lacking perseverance. There are several issues with this interpretation. The first is that because something is on average true does not mean it is always true. There are cases where perseverance does not help depression. There are many where it does. On average it helps, which is the claim. Next, it it is not fair to presume that because something helps, that it has a causal relationship with that thing. Most people feel less depressed (temporarily) if they take a dopamine agonist. This does not necessarily mean that their depression was caused by a lack of dopamine, only that dopamine helps. In the same way, focusing on goals will help a lot of depressed people. Influence does not imply causality. And the last part of that statement about disengaging from goals and having a cynical attitude are also facts not conjecture. Negative thinking and disengaging from goal pursuit are linked to mood decline in virtually all people. This does not imply that people have full control over their thinking and goal pursuit or even that there aren't some people for whom such control is next to impossible. As clinicians, we teach clients to work with what they have and make decisions that will help them. This study outlines some things that are typically helpful. It does not say that they will be helpful or possible for everyone.