Can depression be cured?

"There may not be many policies that deliver happiness for all, but there are some that alleviate misery for many." - The Observer What seems to be an editorial in the UK Observer asserts that government should step in and care for the mentally ill. Why? 70 percent of men in prison suffer from a psychiatric disorder Homeless people also are "similarly swollen" by legions of untreated mentally ill patients "There is, more widely, a taboo around mental illness and a common presumption that people should be able to heal their own minds with an effort of will, a stiffening of upper lips and a pulling up of socks. If that attitude were applied to cancer patients, it would quickly be condemned as ignorant and callous." I couldn't have said that better myself.