I have been seriously depressed twice in my life. Both bouts of depression were caused by a concrete incident or situation – a stinker boyfriend and a bad school for Ian. Those periods were short in duration and went away when the situation improved. I'm not sure if I should really characterize those periods as "seriously" depressed or not, but they were certainly gloomy times when I walked around in a daze unable to imagine laughing again. In a way those depression episodes were a gift, because it gave me a glimpse of the pain that some people have to carry around permanently. 

I am still struck about the reactions to Aaron Swartz's suicide. Would he have killed himself, if he could see how many people were mourning his death? 

I thought I would just offer an open thread on depression on this blog. Do you or a loved one struggle with depression? Is there anything that we can do to help?