Why are depressed people misunderstood by well meaning friends/relatives to be selfish?

i really think that it depends on the person that has the mental illness and how they deal with it.. the family needs to consider this person and really not encourage this illness but also not ignore it. it can be very detrimental if you do ignore it and can cause the person to think that their family does not care and they might start thinking about suicide which can be very important and the family needs to realize this.