It feels pretty weird to me that people are almost programmed to recommend Therapy or Gym as the ultimate solutions.
Despite the fact that not all people are capable of doing both.
Further more, there is no study, as far as my knowledge go, that show any ultimate cure for depression. Matter of fact I had seen a study that suggest a very high percentage of people are drug treatment resistant (meaning that there depression would not get better with any prescribed drugs).
I had seen studies that say that training or even just daily walks can highly improve mood, but I had never heard that they fully cure depression.
Therapist here. The concept of a “real depressed person” is brought to you by insurance companies (so they can deny coverage), the APA (so they can sell the DSM) and big pharma (so they can sell you drugs). The criteria are arbitrary and often discourage people from seeking help when they don’t think their suffering is “real enough.” Most therapists I know hate the diagnostic process, but we’re forced to do it so your insurance will pay for treatment.
Anyone who’s feeling depression that disrupts their lives is welcome to see a psychiatrist, or a therapist, or both. Both types of providers are here to help, and we’ll refer you to any additional providers if it’s appropriate.
Edit: for a deeper dive into the over-pathologizing of human experiences, I recommend Allen Frances’ Saving Normal and Ethan Watters’ Crazy Like Us. The latter has a chapter on GlaxoSmithKline’s crusade to change Japan’s cultural understanding of depression from a natural response to external events, to a pervasive disease that needs treatment (like Paxil!)