I wonder if the author is Australian? There is an organisation here called the Black Dog Institute set up to treat mental health issues such as depression.
No, it breaks the metaphor. Deppression is so terrible not because it's a dangerous beast, but because it's a dangerous beast in the only place that matters: your own mind.
It can't be compared to anything worldly without trivializing it.
It always comes back.
But metaphorically, that suicide.
It can't be compared to anything worldly without trivializing it.