I'm not too sure if I've done this correctly..hope so!
Depression is a disease that has many suggested biomedical causes, but no one would argue that it is solely biomedical. There can be triggers or social experiences that make a patient much more likely to suffer depressive symptoms, such as the loss of a child, or divorce. Equally, no one would argue it was a solely socially produced disease; there are many studies which have shown concordance rates between monozygotic twins to be higher than dizygotic twins.
Depression is not solely psychological; it has physical, cognitive and behavioural manifestations as well as low mood and loss of interest in activities, such as fatigue, insomnia, changes in appetite etc. Patients with depression may often not fulfil the sick role as Parson’s defined it in 1950s as they may struggle to continue to function in society.
A diagnosis of depression has many social implications. It is still perceived to be widely stigmatised, and may have further psychological implications on the patient themselves because of this. I think that while depression is still stigmatised to an extent, there is a perception that it is more stigmatised than it really is, which means that individuals are less comfortable disclosing their diagnosis to friends, family or colleagues, although doing this could help.