Ian Gotlib doesn’t disprove “clinical lore” that depressed individuals often cry. People who are depressed typically become preoccupied with their faults and shortcomings and less interested in the world, much less compassionate for others. That the study described finds that some people who are depressed do not cry in response to another’s sad situation doesn’t obviate centuries of clinical observation that many do cry-often-about their own concerns.
John S. Smolowe Menlo Park, Calif.
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