Ever try to express how you're feeling to a friend or family member and describe your clinical depression and then they try to cheer you up by saying they get depressed too? It's not about them. They're not helping or putting things in perspective because they do not have a complete understanding and it comes off as belittling. They literally have no understanding of clinical depression and equate having a bad mood or day with persistent symptoms that profoundly affect one's life. Some try to relate but others fall into the trap of equating. They completely miss the point and it's not about them. It's about them putting themselves in a different frame of reference of your illness. It's about you, your feelings and dysfunction, and having another person completely understand you, not marginally. Part of the problem is the misnomer "depression" and what it means to them is not what it means to the medical community. Depression is such a catch-all term these days and means different things to different people. But when someone tries to relate and says I get tired too, or I get down too, I know they perhaps mean well but the big picture and big point flies over their head. Ask them if they deal with these debilitating and persistent symptoms day in and day out for years and then you may have a basis for discussion and understanding. Your friends and family are important. They are necessary but not sufficient for your recovery. They will not be able to fix you. However they can frustrate all hell out of you by not understanding where you are coming from.