Depression

Re “His Depression Is ‘Real,’ All Right,” Commentary, July 5: Robert Dawidoff effectively captures the insidiousness and misunderstanding of this crippling, negativistic disease. It is important after a depression lifts to remember that good experiences may have occurred during the blue phase; you just weren’t able to interpret them positively. These experiences need to be reviewed, so that they can be more appropriately integrated into the psyche. Such ongoing cognitive self-management is a major key to surviving depression.

PAUL D. LIEHR

Los Angeles