Thinking Out Loud: Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. Obviously, it is much more meaningful to hear from someone who actually knows what he/she is talking about.
What I understand from your words is that non-clinical depression can be helped by all the ideas people posted, but that clinical depression is not helped by them. If I understand you correctly, true clinical depression is not helped at all by these things (although it’s possible that these things could have helped before it got to that point)
What I still don’t understand is: if that is the case, then what does help real clinical depression? Is it only medication or are there other options?
It also seems to me that the fact that someone is taking medication does not necessarily mean that that person has the type of depression that you describe and could not necessarily have been helped in any way. I am saying that based on the fact that it has become exceedingly common nowadays to take medication. In fact, I have heard that app. 1/4 or 1/3 of all people in the Western world are on medication for depression (although I would guess that the numbers are different in the Yeshivish world). I can’t imagine that all those people went through what you want through and that it would have been completely impossible for anything else to have helped. Would you call what those people have clinical depression?
Tachlis, it sounds like none of the posters were referring to the real kind of clinical depression that you were describing. Amongst other things, it sounds like someone in that state would not have been capable of posting. Therefore, all the advice given was worthwhile advice.