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I agree that depression and other mental illnesses are indeed illnesses. While the idea that these conditions might be symptoms caused by other illnesses is interesting, I think that it is also a way of trying to simplify/dismiss mental health issues. Like Megan said, not giving depression the recognition of being an illness may contribute to the notion that mental illnesses are not serious medical conditions, but just a personal struggle/weakness. I also think labeling depression as a symptom just allows people to not actively search out the causes of depression since symptoms are caused by a wide array of things. I do feel like the manifestation and cause of depression is specific to the individual. However, to effectively treat depression, psychologists have to get to the root of the problem, the cause of the depression and address that through counseling (and medication, if necessary). This is why I think depression is an illness because symptoms like fever or nausea can be treated across different people with the same drug without having to really know the cause of the condition. Depression may just give off the impression of being a symptom because it is so individualized, but illnesses, even physical ones (as we discussed in class), can be individualized as well.