by Michael Yapko

About the author: Michael Yapko is a clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist in private practice in Solana Beach, California. He is also the author of the book Breaking the Patterns of Depression.

Currently, the most common mental health disorder in America—and one of the most costly—depression racks up a staggering $54 billion a year in costs from work absenteeism, reduced productivity, lost earnings and treatment expenses, according to a 1995 study by the National Institute of Mental Health. Depression is also among the most medicalized of psychiatric diagnoses; indeed, family doctors, not psychiatrists, write up to 70 percent of antidepressant prescriptions, with a wide array of meds to choose from. With the lion’s share of mental health research dollars going into psychopharmacology...