I've had this same thought for a while now. Mental illness (and I am not using this term judgmentally) is, essentially, when your perception of the world persistently does not agree with the external reality: for example, you're under the impression that you're fat when in reality you're nigh emaciated.
If that's a correct characterization, is depression really a mental illness? If people perceive their lives to be dreadful, whereas in reality their lives are dreadful, where does the misconception come in?
If that's a correct characterization, is depression really a mental illness? If people perceive their lives to be dreadful, whereas in reality their lives are dreadful, where does the misconception come in?