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And yet, it's at Christmastime when so many people are most depressed. That may have much to do with all the secular-commercial-consumerist hype or the Winter solstice and the relative absence of light, but it does seem like religious sources of good news and solace don't always do the job in relieving depression.

I don't disagree with what you say about the power of faith or belief, but it does look as though the message of salvation or deliverance doesn't always heal. It would be interesting to see if the association of holidays with depression holds up in other countries.

It's doubtful that Christmas-New Year's was widely regarded as a sad and overwhelming time of year before all the media-commercial build-up. Perhaps the "true meaning" of Christmas wouldn't cause sorrow, but it does seem like the conviction that one must be happy and part of a happy family at a particular time of year can make unhappiness worse.

I don't disagree with you that one needs a source of inner strength and that it can be found in the Bible. But I do remember how college kids who were chronically happy, whether for temperamental, evangelical, or pharmaceutical reasons, drove their normal or moderately depressed roommates up the wall.

"And yet, it's at Christmastime when so many people are most depressed."

No. Feeling down and true depression are 2 different things. For the depressed, every minute of every day is the same, and there are heavy physical symptoms that are unavoidable and are unfortunately debilitating, leading to further despair.

Real depression has a huge physical element.

Re" wallowing- wallowing in bad thoughts is a personality problem, and is not depression. When someone becomes debilitated, there IS a mourning period. But intelligent people realize what is happening and stop this.

And, contrary to myth, no matter how positive, or how psyched up, or how motivated, or how organized, or how enlightened, the physically debilitating symptoms will not improve. Attitude, outlook and complete realization of the person's situation and the required remedies are helpful, BUT DO NOT CURE MAJOR DEPRESSION. For many, the myriad of 'miracle feel good' drugs do absolutely nothing.