That depends on who you ask. Many say yes, many more say no. The most sense that I’ve read suggests that the predisposition to certain levels of brain chemicals is hereditary. This article from the University of Michigan Depression Center says both.

I lean more towards the environmental. If you are a child of depressed parents, that’s going to be a learned experience. I’ve seen both of my kids suffer from it, not to the degree I have yet and hopefully never. The important thing is to keep communication open and learn coping skills. I think I taught them better coping skills than I know how to utilize.

I lost my brother to suicide and it almost killed me. I somehow felt that it was okay for me to feel that bad but it was totally unacceptable to me that he did. I personally lay it all on environment though I won’t go into all that on this post.

Heh, such a foreign feeling to just feel good for no particular reason. I was talking to my therapist about it yesterday. I’m used to feeling guilty, ashamed, lazy, depressed, you name it. What’s with this feeling good stuff! He opened his ole textbook and started reading about discounting it when you feel good. Like “well, this will end soon” or “I don’t don’t deserve this.” I was astonished to realize that after feeling bad for so long that I do exactly that. I guess you can say I’m a textbook case :p Awareness, or mindfulness as he calls it is everything so now I know.

This article is from 2006 and I was ready to rush right out and volunteer for their study. They’ve found that pacemakers can help Parkinson patients and also depressed patients. It will be ungodly expensive if it becomes the norm I’d assume, since they insert electrodes deep in the brain.

There is another surgery done in my city where they attach electrodes to the vagus nerve and it works the same way. Much cheaper and done on an outpatient basis. Apparently one of the weird side effects will be a squeak or something if you’re talking while the zap happens. When nothing else has worked these seem like good options to look into. But not for me at the moment. I’m not feeling THAT bad and after two brain surgeries in recent years I have an aversion to doctors and hospitals.