What is depression meta-physically?

[Salvijus]

31 minutes ago, LastThursday said:

Only if the option is available. You can't choose what you don't have. 

How you choose to respond to any given situation is always an option that is available to everyone. You can never be without the option to respond. And it's your relationship (response) to a situation that determines the quality of your experience, not the situation itself.

Edited 1 hour ago by Salvijus

[Salvijus]

@Judy2 🌟 

[Carl-Richard]

15 minutes ago, Salvijus said:

How you choose to respond to any given situation is always an option that is available to everyone. You can never be without the option to respond. And it's your relationship (response) to a situation that determines the quality of your experience, not the situation itself.

If you're standing on train tracks and there is a train coming towards you, you always have the choice to accept the reality of the train smashing into you. But will you? Depression is from the perspective of the person experiencing it like a train crashing into you in slow motion. Somebody coming along and shouting "accept it!", even if it is theoretically a possible thing to do, is most likely going to be perceived as a joke by the person.

[LastThursday]

18 minutes ago, Salvijus said:

How you choose to respond to any given situation is always an option that is available to everyone. You can never be without the option to respond. And it's your relationship (response) to a situation that determines the quality of your experience, not the situation itself.

You're right in a philosophical sense. But you're conflating the ability to choose with the option to choose. Being depressed takes away the ability to choose, much like a tired person finds it hard to choose anything other than being tired. Being depressed also puts you in a state where you become blind to the options available to you - hence the need for external intervention. Much mental illness is like this: you could choose from an outside perspective, but you don't or can't from an inside perspective.

[Basman]

Depression is a fixation on how life happens to you in a negative way that you can't control. Its pessimistic and sad.

Its your mind which is depressing you. That's why being active helps, because it puts your mind elsewhere.