[johnep]

Depression is a tricky one. I deal with by first asking if they wake up (usually about 4am) and worry about things. I then explain depression as imbalance of brain hormone and not much difference to imbalance of thyroid. No one worries about that. The depression is caused by an event such as bereavement or can sometimes come on without a known cause (the black dog of Churchill for example).
Depression can be treated by taking a tablet to restore the 5ht imbalance and the Dr will have seen hundreds of pts before.

in the early days of anti depressants, some Drs would say that psychotherapy was the answer. So it may be, but who has the time and money. I would say that the tablet/capsule was a psychological prop to help the pt while they recovered naturally. Along came Tofranil to replace the MAOIs and the Drs were convinced of medication therapy. then the floodgates of antidepressants opened.
johnep