“Is Depression a Disease”? An Open Letter to the Editor of the Globe and Mail

On the occasion of Father’s Day, I took the opportunity to ask my father, Philip Seeman, about his impressions of an article on depression in the Globe and Mail (June 18) by columnist and feature writer Leah McClaren. Ms. McLaren posed the question: “Is depression a disease?”

As of the time of writing, there were 118 online comments concerning Ms. McLaren’s article. She had interviewed psychotherapist and writer Gary Greenberg, author of Manufacturing Depression, which, she writes, “debunks the prevailing notion that depression is a disease and anti-depressants the long-awaited cure.” The print edition of the newspaper published one critical letter. Ms. McLaren’s article contained no Web links to research on depression by Dr. Greenberg; this research is hard to find.