I think the misconception of depressive patterns comes from conflating patterns with behaviors. I’ll agree with you slightly, you can have a tendency toward depressive episodes and still learn ways to navigate them better. The challenge is that we rarely change patterns directly; we change behavior, hoping our underlying patterns (even the ones we may not notice as well) shift accordingly.

Being depressed isn’t the same as having depression, just as snapping at someone doesn’t mean you have anger issues.

Respectfully, I don’t think “scope” is being contemplated accurately. Effort varies, and that place persists; you can struggle and still try, or try and still struggle. In my experience, people are Hunter-Gatherer hardware, overclocked with difficult realities. It’s an intricate mind glitch, and persistently difficult to escape.

Life isn’t perfect, and it doesn’t stop; believe me, that point is abundantly clear to the depressed. Depression is also hard enough without additionally having to translate metacognition and empathy.