Jungian View of Depression

Ur-Spo, a self-described "shrink" writes in his blog, Spo-Reflections that:

"In the Jungian theory, depression is a symptom of a wrong direction, or a necessary step of discarding false matters to make room for real psychological growth. So, in Jungian psychology, depression is not an ‘illness’ per se – it is a signal; sort of like a ‘red warning light’ that comes on when your engine has a problem."

I think that is a very accurate statement when referring to mild to moderate depression. It is a signal that we are going the wrong direction or looking at the wrong things to make us happy. It can also mean that there is a lack of meaning, purpose and direction in our lives. I sometimes think of depression like pain. Most people think of pain as being a bad thing, but pain tells us when there is something wrong which needs attention. Without pain receptors we might continue to walk around on a broken leg thinking only that it's new shape is "interesting" and not realizing the severity of the injury. Likewise, depression can be a warning signal that something is awry and needs attention.

Comments?