Depression Quiz
By Liz Brody
Are you depressed?
Depression can charge out of nowhere, dumping you headlong into despair. Or it can sneak up on you in tiny increments, like salt from an icy road that splatters the underside of a car and slowly corrodes the metal, and you may not even realize it. "I would guess that only 20 percent of people with mild depression recognize it for what it is and seek help," says Andrew Solomon, author of the new book, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression.   Find out just how much you really know about depression, and learn to recognize the myths Solomon discovered.  


 1. Depression is the opposite of happiness.
2. Toughing out a bad spell will strengthen your character.
3. Antidepressants will give you a Stepford personality.
4. The cause of depression is a lack of serotonin.
5. Basic lifestyle habits can keep your mood buoyed.
6. Different people need different types of treatment for depression, including medication and talk therapy.
7. The best way to help a friend or loved one recover from depression is to tell him or her to cheer up.
8. A person who takes antidepressants for depression is cheating instead of dealing with the problem.