Depression is like pollution. The optimal amount is not zero.

Having had zero bouts of depression by age 25 is probably a worse mental illness than having had 1-2 mild/moderate ones. Makes you kind of an idiot on the EQ axis. And the older you get without having encountered depression, the costlier the resulting EQ deficit will be.

Classic sign of undepression: you can’t tell when someone has kinda given up on a task that requires non-depressed attention, and you push them harder and harder getting more and more frustrated at their “giving up” until you destroy the relationship.

It’s not lack of empathy or kindness. Some of the kindest, most empathetic people suffer from undepression. They simply have no referent for the other person’s state. It’s like the idea of color to a blind person.

In fact early adulthood first bout of mild/moderate depression should not be considered an illness at all but a natural growth stage that installs adult EQ. It is *not* experiencing it that’s weird.

I’m pretty sure the undepressed have no idea what the word means, but don’t know they don’t know, because they map it to something else, like sadness or burnout.

It’s a distinct state that you never forget once you’ve experienced it (mine was 20y ago but still easy to recall)

Hmm the adaptive value of depression is probably rational quitting. It’s an illness when it leads you to give on too much, too often, to the point you can’t function.

Effectiveness is about quitting on most challenges, but not all.