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Have you heard of a video game addiction? I sure hope so, because that's a mental dependency, for the record.
There is evidence that depression is not only genetic, but an evolutionary phenomena as well, hence why it occurs roughly at the same age for younger individuals, but recurring for some, simply because genes aren't exactly perfect, when considering epigenetics, etc.
The best way to deal with depression isn't to inhale chemicals to somehow "compensate" for the chemical imbalance associated with depression by providing a temporary satisfaction, and the same goes for antidepressants.
If it is in fact evolutionary, therefore genetic, then it's a phenomena that has likely been going for thousands, if not tens of thousands of years, most likely when religion started playing a role in understanding of the universe (probably around 30-40 thousand years ago), also when neanderthals and our own species were in conflict, or the novel theory that we were banging each other resulting in our own dna being scarred with a bit of neanderthal dna.
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is typically thought of as physical, but could it perhaps be a mental process as well? It would be an evolutionary advantage to not only understand how the universe works (depression is associated with the need to understand and results in some sort of acceptance), but to also survive, if you will, the state of being depressed.
In conclusion, the best way to "treat" depression would be to receive communicative help, but I'm not a social psychologist or neurologist, and I don't think you are either. Then again, this is a philosophical discussion, after all.
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