Another way of looking at depression

[Faith No More]

Anyone have any thoughts on exogenous vs endogenous depression?

They often go hand in hand.  In fact, I think in many cases people start by developing endogenous, which is in turn exacerbated by the exogenous.  That's how it was in my case.  I was around 13 when these feelings of loneliness and despair started creeping over me.  By the time I was 15 I had developed suicidal tendencies, but then I found a girl.  It was if she fixed everything that was broken in me.  I no longer felt depressed.  It wasn't anything more than just a high school crush, but I was so desperate for something like that that I was overwhelmed by how good I felt just thinking about her.  After three months, she broke up on me, and full blown, all-consuming depression.  I ended up in the mental hospital for the first time just a few months later.

I believe those that experience only exogenous  depression have a much easier time coping with their depression, because they have the ability to analyze the external pressures that have caused their depression.  Whereas, those with endogenous depression are fighting against an unseen enemy.

The worst, though, is when you suffer from strong endogenous depression, and then you get hit hard by external factors.  It was two years after I had pulled myself out from rock bottom(tried to kill myself) when I found my best friend's body after he had hung himself.  That sent me into very dark places.