Depression Symptoms:

Randolph M. Nesse:

"Early in my career, I always encouraged patients to keep trying, keep trying, don't let your depression symptoms fool you into thinking you can't succeed. Often that was good advice. Some applicants get into medical school the fourth time they apply. Some singers land a gig with the Grand Ole Opry after their fifth year in Nashville. But more become increasingly despondent as failure follows failure. Sometimes a five-year engagement runs into marriage. Sometimes staying another year in LA trying to break into film pays off. But not often.

Sober experience combined with my growing evolutionary perspective to encourage respecting the meaning of my patient's moods. As often as not, their symptoms seemed to arise from a deep recognition that some major life project was never going to work. She was glad he wanted to live with her, but it looks increasingly like he will never agree to get married. The boss is nice now and then and hints at promotions, but nothing will ever come of it. ... Low mood is not always an emanation from a disordered brain; it can be a normal response to pursuing an unreachable goal."