Depression is increasing in the United States, in no small part due to COVID-19. According to recent reports, depressive symptoms are at least three times higher than they were before the pandemic hit, suggesting that the emotional cost of living through this time is enormous. For those who are vulnerable to depression already, this time is even more fraught. Al (whose name has been changed for privacy) suffered bouts of depression on and off for years, but had made the decision to go off of his medications near the end of 2019. Then COVID hit, and it was hard to keep his mood from plummeting. “I have more depressive symptoms than I did a year ago—more negative feelings about my relationship, about friends, in general,” he says. “If your imagination runs to the negative, this apocalyptic scenario just confirms your negative bias about how things are and how things turn out.” …