Depression and mourning a loss

[Carpenter]

I happened across a Lutheran Minister on the golf course who also turned out to have a PhD in pastoral counseling. I asked him about the concept of depression, and how functioning individuals with no history of mental illness are being prescribed an unbelievable amount of anti-depressants.

He agreed and indicated that a majority of higher and normally functioning individuals don't need to be medicated.

Then he said something that really made sense.

He said that most depression is caused due to mourning the loss of something. It could be a physicial or an emotional loss and that mourning is the first stage of depression. The identification of that which you have lost is the first step in not allowing the depression to go to the next level.

I thought that was pretty good even coming from a Lutheran...