A Note of Method

Depression, under various names and in various guises, is and has always been ubiquitous for biochemical and social reasons. . . . If it sometimes seems that depression is the private affliction of the modrn Western middle classes, that is because it is in this community that we are suddenly acquiring new sophistication to recognize depression, to name it, to treat it, and to accept it -- and not because we have any special rights to the complaint itself. .. . . We can never eliminate all unhappiness, and alleviating depression does not assure happiness…..