This kind of attitude is exactly the reason I took so long to tell anyone when I started getting symptoms of depression. Whether or not it's true, there's a very thin line between complaining about over-diagnosis and encouraging a very damaging stigma against people with what is, at the end of the day, a mental illness they can't help.

Secondly, when I did finally get some help, the absolute first thing I was told was to try exactly those things -- improve my sleep, diet and exercise. Your problem is with the attempted treatment you've seen, not really the identification.

Wow, I hope your son(?) is able to break away from your frankly horrible advice and live a happy life. Antidepressants help people and literally save lives. Depressed people can be very effective at hiding it, and you might think he's "kicking ass" up to the point where he isn't in your life anymore.

"Just toughen up" is the unsympathetic, counterproductive and, frankly, dangerous advice of the last century. Take your own advice and stop complaining about humanity deciding it's good to care about each other and care about yourself. Or better yet, see a counselor or therapist about your stunted emotional growth.

There is some truth in what you're saying but you're overly dismissive of the very real and not-actually-rare issues of depression, which have physical causes and treatments just like any other human ailment.

Telling someone who actually has depression--that is, a brain chemistry imbalance that causes negative feelings--to toughen up is about as helpful as telling someone with a broken leg to walk it off.