Depression has important cultural and social components. Interviews with 16 women living in the poor and violent outskirts of São Paulo were analyzed to identify local concepts of depression. The interviews were conducted with women who were diagnosed with depression and patients in treatment at a primary care unit. For these women, depression was inextricably woven into their violent and downtrodden daily lives, as well as with other sources of suffering. The local community identified two types of depression: 'true' and 'false,' suggesting a concept enmeshed with morality.