What's she got to have cancer about?

Does that sound like a pertinent question? Perhaps, 'why does she have cancer' would be slightly more appropriate, after all if a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer then we might look at the risk factors: age, family history, reproductive history, oral pill use etc. Still, it would seem strange for the question of 'why?' to be our most immediate reaction. And would that be a question we'd actually ask to the lady with the cancer, rather than simply confining to the scrutiny of our own minds? Surely the most common reaction is to say, 'how awful, let me know if I can do anything to help'. No inquiry into the reasons why, no questions of choice. No one chooses to have cancer, they can't think their way out of it, and they haven't 'got anything to have cancer about'. I'm not quite sure why the same doesn't apply to depression.

After the author, Marian Keyes, announced to the world last week that she was too depressed to write, the Daily Mail ran an article entitled - "Author Marian Keyes has fans across the world and a husband who adores her. So why is she so depressed she can't eat, sleep or write a word?"

Just replace the word depressed with cancer, and see how much sense it makes.

In fairness to the Mail, in true tabloid fashion, the article itself gives only a casual nod of recognition to the headline it follows; it does acknowledge that Marian's material success, happy marriage, and general life achievements 'offer no protection from this 'crippling' disease she says is making her life 'hell'. However, it then goes on to explore her childhood, previous alcohol addiction, weight, looks, societal pressures, and lack of children.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all these things don't have an effect. Any competent psychologist will explain that depression is caused by a complex mixture of genetics, diet, lifestyle, childhood experiences, the stress of our jobs, and so on. The combination of one, two, or more of these factors can conspire to change the chemistry in our brains which leads to depression. Sometimes lifestyle factors need to be addressed, sometimes people get depressed for no explicable reason and simply need medication to restore their chemical balance. The point is that it seems strange to be asking all these questions about someone's illness. We would not ask the same questions of a celebrity with breast cancer. 'What's their diet like?' 'Did they breast feed?' 'Did their grandmother have cancer?' We would accept that they are ill with something not of their making, and that would be that.

We all wade through the same coloured shit and it doesn't bring everyone down; there are always a hundred possibilities why someone could be depressed, but never a reason. Depression is an irrational and illogical state, and to attempt to approach it from a logical angle is ill-judged. The best thing to do is accept that it happens, and treat it like it should be treated, as an illness.