I read something that Blondie said on page 2 about being depressed and then being depressed. I've also read about people that once they left they got better on their own.
I think yes, you can be born with it and even if you had the bestest childhood ever, you'd deal with depression. I also think that it's the putting ya down in the organization that drives one to depression as well. I am the third, as I'm sure many of us here are as well...
We learned the wrong coping skills growing up, it's like we were told the sky was green when it was really blue. So once we left, for whatever reasons we couldn't quite get ourselves 'happy' again cause we had no idea how happy was achieved or what it really felt like. I'm being overly simplistic with this, but it's the gist.
My therapy entailed not only discussion of my rotten childhood but the complete rebuilding of my mental and social foundations. Between than and the medication to get myself onto a more stable platform, my mood has greatly improved. It's taken a long to reteach myself but ultimately I'm not as miserable anymore. He explained it using "The Circle of Courage"
The Circle of Courage
The medicine wheel, which is a Native American symbol for the wholeness of life, is used to portray this philosophy. The four directions of the medicine wheel are representative of four universal human needs:
Generosity
Character is cultivated by concern for others so that the child (and everyone) can say,
I have a purpose for my life.
Belonging
The universal longing for human bonds is cultivated by relationships of trust so the child (and everyone) can say,I am loved.
Independence
Free will is cultivated by responsibility so that the child (and everyone) can say,
I have the power to make decisions.
Mastery
The inborn thirst for learning is cultivated, by learning to cope with the world so the child (and everyone) can say,
I can succeed.
If one of these is broken, it's almost impossible to master the next step. All of the above we might have been tought in one fashion or another, but they were always based on subjectivism and conditional...
I have a purpose for my life. (Not me, but the society has a purpose for my life...ultimately I have no say in it.)
I am loved. (only if I tow the line, otherwise I will be cast aside as refuse and trampled upon.)
I have the power to make decisions. (oh really? Not so. I can only make decisions that are society approved.)I can succeed. (I as a woman cannot. I am to subject myself to others when it goes against my very personality to do such a thing. I can only do what I'm told, and can't succeed when it wasn't even my decision really to make.)