I saw a therapist on AskMen talking about how with all his experience, every patient he had, had lead him to believe that depression was based on an internal fantasy that was in conflict with reality.
Its been a long time since I spent every day totally miserable, popping pills that didn't work, and pulling the blades out of disposable razors. I constantly daydreamed about a different life, where I was in a good relationship with a woman that does not exist, happily working some hard job to make money off of, like making and selling custom trenchcoats for a living.. dressing unapologetically Goth all the time, and not having teeth rotting out of my mouth.
Now I accept who I am and my reality. Rather than blindly taking shame from every human being with an opinion, which was once the case for me, I look to see if there is rationality in their accusation. And I struggle not to let any daydream turn into a prolonged emotional reaction.
I don't believe that drugs can cure depression, because as previously stated, I see it as a conflict between reality and internal fantasy. Traumatic past stories are just a distraction from some underlying personal fantasy which was originally created to run away from that trauma. So I think its best for a therapist or a depressed person to find and point out the fantasy and its irrationality.