How strange that you should post this. I
almost posted something very similar,
because I was thinking the same thing; that it
seems like so many regulars here have been
revealing lately that they struggle with these
problems. The only thing that kept me from
raising the same questions you did first was
the fact that I'm swamped at work this week
and trying to dig out.

To answer your question, I for one have never
suffered from clinical depression or its
symptoms, although I've certainly been
through trials in my life that brought about
those feelings. The feelings have always
dispersed once the circumstances were over,
though, and I've never had to take any
medication to deal with them.

Many of you know that my wife went through a
severe case of post-partem depression after
our son was born that required hospitalization
and over a year of treatment with medication
and counseling. Prior to that first-hand
experience, I believed as some do, that
clinical depression was a farce that people
used to try to hide their true problems and that
taking pills was just trying to cover
up the true problem. But seeing what
happened to my wife, and having her
perspective as someone who went through it
and came out of it with treatment, "learned me
different." Her condition was brought about by
the hormonal effects of pregnancy and
childbirth, and was only temporary, but I can
understand now that some people DO have
problems in the chemical makeup of their
brains, and DO require lifelong medicinal
treatment for it.

However, I will say this: as a Christian, I have
experienced that in my own self, depression
has been an indicator of spiritual problems.
When my relationship with God wasn't what it
should have been, it affected every other area
of my life, including my mental state. And the
scariest thing is, I got used to it, and until I
made things right with the Lord, I didn't even
realize how miserable and unhappy I was, all
the time. Unfortunately I think that some
well-meaning people just assume (as I once
did) that every case of depression is an
indicator of spiritual unhealthiness, and that
just isn't so.