My Unpopular Hypothesis: Increasing rates of depression are the product of people responding to a lack of conflict in modern-day first-world countries

With less conflict and more leisure life becomes more purposeless, as there are less heightened emotions and actions. Especially around teenage years, where we realize that we're not unique or the main characters of our own story, but just one among many.

Depression is a way to heighten both the stakes/importance of our everyday lives and experience the intensive emotions we would never feel otherwise.

I think then the best solution for depression is a goal-oriented system, where setting and accomplishing self-made goals fills the purposelessness of everyday life.

Of course, I could easily be wrong. Just an idea I've had for a while.