“Therapy is great — but don’t rely on it alone. Don’t put the responsibility of overcoming depression on someone else. Taking responsibility doesn’t guarantee overcoming it — but not taking responsibility guarantees you won’t.” Dr Hussein Naji

As a child, my mates and I created our own fun. We bought marbles, made catapults, rode bikes, threw klei-lats, swam in dams and fished with rods made of bamboo. I’m not talking about the dark ages, although pre-cell-phones does seem an awful long time ago.

Nowadays, kids of all ages, (and an awful lot of adults), get virtually all their fun from their cell-phones. That is, some external source is entertaining them. We are gradually morphing into dependant humans in every aspect of our lives. So when we get depressed we either do nothing about it, preferring to hide in plain sight, or get therapy – that is, be dependant.

We start living from appointment to appointment. In between we suffer quietly. Instead of taking responsibility for how we feel, we put our well-being in the hands of someone else.

Apart from therapy, there are so any things one can do to relieve the nightmare of depression. People manage their blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and other conditions difficult to cure. Yet when it comes to depression, they don’t.

Take exercise. Instead of going for a walk, a run or to gym, depressed people lie on their beds and stare at the ceiling. “Depression doesn’t cause inactivity – inactivity causes depression” – Dr Wayne Dyer.

Just for fun, the next time you are shopping for groceries, and you see a fat person, go look at what’s in their trollies. Because they are overweight you would think (hope) they might be after healthy, low-calorie items to try and get thin. Of course they aren’t. They will be buying cookies, cold drinks, cakes, chips and sweets. Which is why they are fat. Now substitute fat with depression.

In too many cases a depressed person’s metaphorical trolley is full of sleeping late, listlessness, self-pity and misery.

What it should of course be full of is exercise – nature’s own anti-depressant, healthy eating, vitamins, busy-ness, ketamine, magic mushrooms or whatever can help manage their condition.

But if they aren’t doing any of the above; they will remain depressed.