Not that clever, really. I was very depressed and suicidal for
most of my life. Recently I have been feeling better, but that's
another subject.

Welcome to the club. I have a very morbid personality. The German Requiem --
especially "All flesh is as grass" -- is my idea of light, frothy music. The
compensation is that I have a terrific sense of humor, which seems to go
with chronic depression -- qv, Brahms and Lincoln.

I would never try to talk someone out of their depression. There's often a
good reason for it, and drugs don't solve the problem.