I think it's misleading to the point of maliciousness to call depression contagious. The phrase "ideas are contagious" is a great concept; because it's obvious

I think it's misleading to the point of maliciousness to call depression contagious. The phrase "ideas are contagious" is a great concept; because it's obvious on it's face that it's a rhetorical concept, and not really contagious. The average human however wouldn't be able to fairly determine if depression was actually contagious, or if it's just a rhetorical device. It's especially confounding when you consider that depression is both a symptom and disease. I recall a study linking depression to gut bacteria, which is without a doubt contagious. But that's not depression that's contagious, that's a bacterial infection; that has depression as a symptom. That's just the long winded way of saying yes, I think depression as a concept should be considered contagious, but only philosophically. It's wrong to say depression is contagious if the discussion is remotely medical.