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I don't want to get into this big debate about depression that seems to be going on, I just wanted to talk about two people that I know that have/had depression and the differences between them. I am sure that clinically there are many differences, but these two people have such different outlooks on their depression that I thought was very interesting. One person was aware of her depression and went to therapy and agreed to go on a course of low doses of medication after discussing it with her therapist, even though she wasn't too wild about it because she didn't want to just medicate it away. However, she was aware that it can be a help, so she agreed. After a time, she and her therapist decided that at certain intervals she could decrease her dosage until she was weaned from the medication and eventually the therapy. She was so determined to beat it that she did all this and today is feeling much better and is in a better mental state. The other person I know who struggles with depression is pretty much the opposite. He has been to therapy when he was younger but only briefly because he didn't like it and didn't think it helped (probably because he didn't give it much of a chance). He has also been given medication without any therapy, but again he only takes it for a few weeks and just stops because he doesn't think it helps. Again, a few weeks isn't really enough time to let the drug do its job, and since it is not backed up by therapy, it probably won't be as effective anyway. The point is that these two people have such different attitudes about their depression. One wanted to get the heck better and fast, and the other seems almost resigned to the way he feels and does not believe it will get better, that its just the way he is, and he functions and deals on a daily basis. I wonder, aside from clinical differences in these two people, what could be the cause (if any) of this difference. Is it anything to do with the I-function? It almost seems to be a matter of will power on the part of the person. I know that willpower alone probably can't get a person out of profound depression, but since depression is associated with a sickness of the mind, how does the I-function of wanting to get better factor into all this? Maybe it doesn't. I don't pretend to know a lot about depression; just what I have learned in a few psych classes and casual observation. I hope no one reads this and gets upset, I just want to know about any relation between what happens in the brain during depression and the elusive I-function.