This book attempts to cover the historical and geographic areas of the Depression. Sometimes it seems that depression is a private ailment of the modern Western middle class. This idea arises only because it is in this environment that we suddenly began to gain new insights that allow us to recognize depression, name it, treat it and accept it as a fact, and not at all because we have any special rights to the illness itself. No book can cover the full range of human suffering; I hope that, at least by identifying it, I will be able to help free several people suffering from depression. No one will ever be able to eliminate all human misery, and even defeating depression does not guarantee happiness, but I hope that the information contained in this book will help someone get rid of some of their suffering.