Quote:I can't speak for most atheists.You speak for no one
I do know that clinical depression is something that can be tested and diagnosed.
There was a group of doctors at my local prefectural hospital who did fMRI studies on severely depressed patients. They found significant and quantifiable differences in brain activity in severely depressed patients vs. undepressed people. (I am certainly not a doctor, but I did all their translation work for them, both when they read and when they wrote research papers, so for about 5 years there I read hundreds of such papers.)
Some of the doctors were experienced diagnosticians, so if a new patient walked into the hospital and said "I am clinically depressed," the doctor wouldn't accept this self-diagnosis at face value. People may self-diagnose with things they've read about in the newspaper when their real trouble is something else. So after extensive interviews, the doctor might end with the conclusion that the self-report was not accurate, that in fact the patient had a different difficulty. It's sad to think that even in Japan, where health care is affordable, full evaluations are difficult to do. Someone might self-diagnose as clinically depressed when in fact they just live in a horrible family who bullies them.
But there are a number of emotional and mental issues which fall in a sadly gray area, where objective testing is difficult or impossible. No one is saying that these should not be taken seriously.

"Change was inevitable"
Nemo sicut deus debet esse!
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“No matter what men think, abortion is a fact of life. Women have always had them; they always have and they always will. Are they going to have good ones or bad ones? Will the good ones be reserved for the rich, while the poor women go to quacks?”
–SHIRLEY CHISHOLM
Nemo sicut deus debet esse!
![[Image: Canada_Flag.jpg?v=1646203843]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=cdn.shopify.com%2Fs%2Ffiles%2F1%2F0630%2F5310%2F3332%2Fproducts%2FCanada_Flag.jpg%3Fv%3D1646203843)
“No matter what men think, abortion is a fact of life. Women have always had them; they always have and they always will. Are they going to have good ones or bad ones? Will the good ones be reserved for the rich, while the poor women go to quacks?”
–SHIRLEY CHISHOLM