Whether the condition is a physical condition that one suffers from or a psychological condition.. there is the tendency to identify oneself with the illness or with the—whatever it is.

You might call it melancholy on steroids -- a muscular mixture of fast-driving, heavy drinking, hard-charging cussedness. For perhaps 3 million American men yearly, that's the plotline for depression.

Depression can be a profoundly damaging and disrupting condition, spiritually and psychologically corrosive, preventing us from living fully and realizing our talents. But a number of people also say the experience has had real value for them. Psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison first planned her own suicide at 17, and attempted to carry it out at 28. Referring to her bipolar disorder, she has said, "I have felt more things, more deeply..."

By Elissa Ely, MD -- A few months into treatment, he noticed.. the desire to put words to paper had just disappeared. So had deep emotion of almost any kind.

More Americans are being diagnosed with depression and prescribed antidepressant medication now than ever before. The top two prescription antidepressant medications reached nearly 4.5 billion in sales in 2006 and have only grown. So where does this modern epidemic stem from? Some experts believe that it may be a misdiagnosis.

By Natalie Angier, The New York Times - Whenever Peter Kramer gives a talk, sooner or later an audience member invariably asks The Question. So, Dr. Kramer, what would have happened if van Gogh had taken Prozac? Or Kierkegaard? Or Virginia Woolf?.. Kramer presents a sustained case that depression, far from enhancing cognitive or emotional powers, essentially pokes holes in the brain, killing neurons..

The greatest power of all is my ability to go into such deep depression that I can gain insights into the true meaning of life. It helps me to find meaning and purpose beyond just surviving another day, and helps me to appreciate life for all of its richness.

Each time I was forced to experience depression it became more clear to me. I began to redefine what depression is and better recognize the features that I could now 'see' more clearly. My scale began to change from one based on pain to one based on a much richer perception of what was going on.

Interview by Janet Grace Riehl -
Eric Maisel: Even before you can make meaning, you must nominate yourself as the meaning-maker in your own life and fashion a central connection with yourself, one that is more aware, active, and purposeful than the connection most people fashion with themselves.

J.K.Rowling sank into a deep depression after completing the final 'Harry Potter' book. She also speaks about the depression that inspired her to write the books.