Ok, some thoughts on this. A thread:

1) Have people forgotten there is a thing called "Adjustment Disorder"?
2) Depression as "disease of the brain" narrative is bankrupt; some cases of depression may have a predominant biological etiology, but most don't. Time to give it up. https://twitter.com/JDRaskin/status/1265246616640016384

3) Major Depression requires either depressed "mood most of the day, nearly every day", or markedly diminished interest/pleasure "mood most of the day, nearly every day"... this is a relatively high bar; most ordinary human misery doesn't have this pervasive, non-reactive quality

4) "Millions of people exhibiting signs of depression now have to discern ennui from temporary grieving from a medical condition"... the magnitude is new but the problem isn't; we have always had to make this tricky, imperfect, shifting, porous boundary; there is no natural line

5) "Those at home Googling symptoms need to know when to seek medical care"... Sx shouldn't dictate when to seek care; most distress/impairment responds to lifestyle change, meaningful activity, social-interpersonal support. Seek help when ordinary coping strategies have failed.

6) We need to find collective ways of managing collective distress... this means changing the narrative, talking about depression & anxiety as public health problems requiring public health solutions.
7) Individual help is ok but emphasize the need for socio-political action!

8) This is neither the first nor the last plague humanity has faced; as a species we have biologically & culturally evolved to survive mass disasters. Our grief, our stress, our anxiety is, in part, *adaptive*. Let us not forget & downplay our capacity for resilience.