On an incredibly simplistic level, you can think of depression as occurring when your cortex thinks an abstract thought and manages to convince the rest of the brain that this is as real as a physical stressor.

There's the complex categorization of low warmth/high competence. This is the hostile stereotype of Asian Americans by white America, of Jews in Europe, of Indo-Pakistanis in East Africa, of Lebanese in West Africa, of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, and of the rich by the poor most everywhere. It's the same low-high derogation: They're cold, greedy, clannish - -but, dang, they're sure good at making money and you should go to one who is a doctor if you're seriously sick.

Almost always, genes are about potentials and vulnerabilities rather than about determinism.

Only humans invent moralizing gods who monitor our behavior.

Give lab rats oxytocin and, according to that meme, they get better at talking about their feelings and sing like Joan Baez.

Oxytocin is a Teflon hormone - bad news rolls off it.

Hormones influencing the sensitivity of the person to environmental stimuli.