Depression can be cured. Unfortunately, it cannot be cured in current medical theory and as a result, it cannot be cured in current medical practice.
Part of the problem is that depression can be a symptom or a disease.
There is an interesting exception to the DSM-5 rule that no mental disorder can be cured: depression caused by bereavement. Depression caused by bereavement is like a wound, cured by time, and health. In normal situations, it takes a few months, with some cases taking less time or more.
No medicines can cure, but cures occur. What does the DSM-5 say about depression caused by bereavement? Well, in version 4, depression caused by bereavement was excluded from the list of mental disorders that can be diagnosed. In the DSM-5, bereavement depression is a mental disorder. It’s the single exception that proves the rule. Why? Gary Greenburg, the author of The Book of Woe, points out the obvious. If depression caused by bereavement can be diagnosed—medicines can be prescribed and sold. Of course, there is no medicine that claims to “cure” depression, they are designed and sold to address symptoms of depression.
No other cases of depression can be cured, due to a strange logic (or illogic) trick. Let’s cure a few cases of depression as examples:
There are many causes of depression. If the cause is addressed, the illness is cured. That’s how cures work.
Nutritional deficiencies can cause depression. If depression is caused by a nutritional deficiency, then it can be cured by addressing the deficiency. There are foods to address any nutritional deficiency, and thus these foods provide cures for depression caused by nutrient deficiencies.
There’s only one small problem.
If it was cured by addressing a nutritional deficiency—then it wasn’t really depression. It was malnutrition. The depression was just a symptom—not a disease. So it wasn’t a mental disorder. Mental disorders cannot be cured. Symptoms can be alleviated, but not cured—so depression wasn’t cured.
Or maybe the depression was caused by poisons, drugs, or toxic chemicals. If so, then it might be cured by removing the toxic chemicals or drugs. Depending on the source of the poison, there might be many ways to address the cause, many ways to cure the depression.
There’s only one small problem.
If depression was cured by removing drugs or toxic chemicals, then it wasn’t depression, it was poisoning. The depression was just a symptom—not a disease. So it wasn’t a mental disorder. Mental disorders cannot be cured.
There’s only one small problem.
If it was cured by addressing the abuse, then it wasn’t depression, it was abuse. So, it wasn’t a mental disorder. Mental disorders cannot be cured.
If depression is caused by stress and cured by addressing the stress—it wasn’t depression, because depression is incurable. The depression wasn’t a disease, it was just a symptom of the stress. Except when the stress is the loss of a close family member. When depression is caused by the stress of bereavement—it’s a mental condition.
Chronic depression takes it a step further. Chronic depression has a chronic cause. If the cause is nutritional, or poison, or abuse, it might cause a short term depression—cured naturally when the cause disappears. But when the cause persists, the result is chronic depression. A chronic illness is not cured by addressing the cause—it can only be cured by addressing the chronic nature of the cause.
Real depression is incurable.
And that’s not all.
If you cure your depression, anxiety attacks, ADHD, or any mental disorder—you can’t prove it’s been cured. Because cured is not defined, there is no test for depression cured. You might cure your depression. But you can’t prove it cured. You might cure someone else’s depression. But you can’t prove that is cured. Proof of cured is not possible because cured is not medically defined.
If you are depressed, or you know someone who is depressed (or has any other mental disorder), you‘ll see lots of “medical news.” You’ll see recommendations for “treating” depression, for depression “prevention”, for “resolving” depression. But you won’t see claims of “curing” depression. You won’t find anyone who claims to cure depression—because depression cured is not defined. Depression cured cannot be tested. Depression cured cannot be proven.
How to Cure Depression
If depression cannot be cured “officially” can it be cured? Of course, it can. Depression is only incurable according to the bureaucracies of conventional medicine.If you want to cure depression, it is necessary to go outside of conventional medicine. The first step is to convert your depression back into a symptom. Then, look again at the above examples.
The Elements of Cure:
Every illness can be cured. An illness is cured when the cause has been addressed when, healing has completed, and no more medicines are required.Of course, sometimes, it’s more complicated. Sometimes, the symptoms of depression are simple, elementary. But sometimes, the symptoms of depression have several causes at once. When symptoms of depression have many causes, many cures are required. Each causal element must be cured by addressing an elementary cause.
Curing depression, sometimes, can be trivial. So trivial—that it is cured before it is diagnosed as depression. Sometimes, depression is cured—even after it has been diagnosed, but the medical bureaucracies are forced to judge it to be “in remission” or maybe it wasn’t really a depression “disease.”
Depression caused by malnutrition can lead to toxic relationships, to consuming toxic chemicals or drugs. Depression, simple depression, can become a downward spiral of illness. When a case of depression has a long and complex history—the cure can also be long and complex. But depression can be cured.