The thing about depression is that it makes making an effort hard.
You can feel hopless, have no energy (even to get out of bed, shower, brush your teeth, or feed yourself), and be full of slef-recrimination and self-loathing on top of that. The more they don't do the worse they feel, leading to a worsening spiral.
It's easy to say that the sufferer should just make the effort to get out of this state, but it is the nature of depression to prevent that. The lucky ones can do it, but many others can't.
Saying to a depressed person that they should make the effort is like telling a gambling addict not to gamble, an alcoholic not to drink, or a person with an eating disorder to just eat less.
It's a lot easier said than done, and what keeps them from doing so often runs a lot deeper than people who make offhand dismissals realize.
Therapy and medication can help, but every solution comes down to individual effort, and nobody can do it for you.
It is important to recognize that falling into depression, addition, and neurotic behavior IS a personal failure, as only then can someone forgive themselves and seek change. Acceptance, accountability, and agency are key
Have you considered that people with issues might not even be capable of doing this? That they could have a very low sense of agency and maybe no idea about the real root causes of their issues, and they might have tried a thousand times to “fix” them without success?
>Have you considered that people with issues might not even be capable of doing this?
Nobody can do it for them. Friends, medication, and therapy can help, but progress is impossible without individual intention and agency.
Mental health isn't like a broken leg that someone can fix for you.
What I'm seeing is a sort of "pop-therapy" where people self diagnose and then wallow in it looking for sympathy while not making sincere efforts to overcome what they have to deal with.