The article analyzes online depression forums to understand how laypeople reinterpret and critique expert biomedical discourses on depression. It contrasts expert psy-discourses with phenomenological lay experiences, focusing on how online forums serve as platforms for these debates. The study presents the main topics from an online ethnography, highlighting the tensions between lay and expert views and examining discursive logics, such as pragmatic advice and reframing of self-narratives. It also explores the latent functionality of these forums, suggesting they may serve as a form of secular 'ritual healing' within an unreflected, contingent potential.