[86J8oyZv]

I would add that clubs, gyms, and meetups are a good, often free or very cheap option as well. Running, biking, skateboarding, climbing, calisthenics/acrobatics, board games, maker groups, art, music… all have very low cost of entry and likely have communities in any town or city.

I feel compelled to also add that while it seems well-meant, I think the tone of your last paragraph is a bit unproductive. A lot (most? all?) of us, at some point, fall out of the habit of exercising our senses of curiosity and wonder and trying new things. This can be caused by many combinations of family, economic, and social conditions, or for some, because of chemistry (ie “serious depression”). Therapy is indeed a good way to develop the skills to work against this and identify whether it’s actually a chemical problem in need of a chemical solution. But it doesn’t help to go straight to calling this “serious depression” needing “professional help.” Literally all of us can benefit from therapy, and making it out to be a big deal and putting labels on people makes many less likely to pursue it.

[mindslight]

I was trying to head off a response of why the advice to get out and do something out of one's groove is impossible. Myself, I would include "family, economic, and social conditions" within the general category of "depression", rather than reserving that label for "purely chemical" problems.

Internal and external factors tend to pile up and reinforce one another, and if someone is at a point where those external factors are contributing to not being able to try changing patterns of behavior, that would be seem to be indicative of a problem that should be acknowledged.

It feels like I'm coming from a place that is the dual of your comment - even though everyone could theoretically benefit from therapy, people are not going to seek it out and add even more complexity to their lives unless they feel they need to - especially with the care-denying medical bureaucracy that permeates the US and apparently Canada. Acknowledging a problem is a first step to addressing it with an appropriate tool rather than normalization and coping band aids.

[escapedmoose]

Valid points, but you’d do well not to refer to that state as “depression.” Depression is a particular pathology and most people are going to interpret it in regards to the medical/chemical circumstance rather than what you’re describing.