I don't have a high IQ, but I've found that if I wilfully depress myself before doing something mentally tasking I usually perform much better than I would have otherwise.

I feel that statements like that belittle actual depression, which best to my knowledge is not something that you can pop into or out from that trivially.

I feel that statements like that are a working out of ideas out loud, with a community, and show a thoughtfulness and curiosity that deserves encouraging amongst humans. If you disagree with an idea, show evidence rather than trying to shame people into silence.

It's not the idea I'm disagreeing with, but the wording used to express it. More specifically the use of word "depression" to refer a condition that does not seem very "serious".

The problem with words like depression is that they really do have many meanings.

Depressing yourself is incredibly easy. If you don't believe me try thinking about Global warming, Poverty, War... you get the idea.

It's getting out of depression that's difficult. Otherwise people would go to the doctor to complain that they're not getting depressed enough, wouldn't they? There is such thing as not being sad enough. It's very rare that someone has unipolar mania, but it's common in bipolar disorder to fluctuate between the two extremes.

Maybe it's just mood alteration. It does take a lot of effort.

Perhaps you mean pessimism. As others have pointed out, one of the features of clinical depression is that has usurped higher cognitive function -- ie, you can't choose to "snap out of it". It snaps your choices instead.

You're not very good at that, are you?

/s

just trying to help