I had a friend who was deeply depressed and ended up taking his life on his second attempt. He was a brilliant guy - highly intelligent, analytical, creative and had a terrific sense of humor. I wish he were alive and could go through this thread. He would have so much to say. Here are a few things I learned from trying to help him battle the disease. I only wish I could have done more.

(1)Depression is like hair-loss - it doesn't occur all at once but gradually over a period of time. The early signs are hard to detect because they can be confused with symptoms of more benign neurotic conditions like anxiety which most people go through at some stage of their lives. Some people with a family history of depression or schizophrenia may think it will skip them or their generation. They can go through their teens and twenties just fine and escape an early onset but it can start in their early thirties and later too.

(2) Don't believe everything you think. Being depressed and well-read can be a potent mix. We are bombarded with information every minute that we are awake. The conclusions we draw from what we hear and think may, paradoxically, not always be the best for us, especially when we are ill, stressed or depressed. Google is the worst possible place to diagnose and cure yourself.

(3) Let the psychiatrist read the DSM. It may be tempting to read it yourself and get a leg up your doctor, but remember he is far more experienced in detecting symptoms and false positives. If you play doctor yourself, you are your first patient, and even though you think you have the knowledge to diagnose yourself, you don't have the experience to come up with the correct diagnosis and treatment.

(4) Be honest with your doctor. Don't use the information that you have gained from reading about mental illness to manipulate your doctor's diagnosis or to mask a deeper problem.

(5) Screw the stigma. Depression and mental disease may be stigmatized in American and Nepali society by some but those people are just not worth bothering about. Those who love you are bound to accept you for who you are sooner or later. There are sometimes  productive ways the mind can compensate for depression.   Here's Edgar Allen Poe: “Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.”

(6)Isolation and depression are lethal. This is a chicken and egg situation - does isolation cause depression or the other way around. The answer is not important. What is important is they don't go hand in hand and it is imperative to seek out friends, family, helplines or whatever support system is available.