I cannot overstate how much harm this myth caused me. I first got sent to a doctor for depression when I was 12. They asked nothing about my life or my home, just gave me a test with a checklist of symptoms and then told me I had this chemical imbalance. If they had asked anything about my home, they would have discovered that my father was abusive. Then they could have told me that my father's behaviour was abuse and my depression was a natural reaction to abuse. By ignoring my life, the doctors implicitly communicated to me that the way my father treated me was normal and to be expected, and in fact his behaviour was so obviously normal that experts don't even bother asking about it.

I spent the next 20 years taking drug after drug after drug trying to find one that really and truly worked, while I was in a string of abusive relationships. Every one of the frequent trips to the doctor further cemented the idea that my relationships were normal and had nothing to do with my depression, and that this was so obvious it wasn't even worth looking into.

I finally figured it out 5 years ago. I turned instead to a domestic abuse counsellor who trained me in how to identify the difference between abusive and healthy relationships. I applied those principles and was finally depression-free.

If I had never been told this myth, then I would have reflected on what in my life might be causing the way I feel and I would have "cured" it decades earlier. The myth actively stopped me from ever doing that.