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Forgot to mention, a book that was just released, "Wheat Belly" takes you step by step as to why wheat is just bad for just about everyone. It was written by a cardiologist who told all his patients to stop eating wheat and make some other dietary changes. He says that those who followed this advice, about 80% noted health improvements.********GF diet is a difficult way to live, especially if the person is young. I'd try instead to see if the person was either celiac or had a gluten SENSITIVITY before even considering suggesting a GF diet just becuse he is depressed.  The idea of a GF diet is enough to MAKE anybody depressed!  I've been on this diet a long time and have been plugged into this list serv a long time, and don't ever remember seeing any reliable (as opposed to annecdotal) documentation about gluten causing depression, but perhaps that is because I wasn't looking for it.

I am the child of an alcoholic, and alcoholism is an inherited tendency, and alcoholism and depression go hand in hand, so I know where my own depression comes from.  My father and ALL FOUR of his siblings were alcoholics, but nobody from my mother's side of the family, so thank goodness I didn't get that trait, but the depression is another matter. I think that if your relative can take anti-depressants, perhaps that along with counseling is a better and easier way to treat the problem than the use of a GF diet.  And almost certainly more effective.

You may want to look at the tests that have recently been talked about on this site, to determine gluten sensitivity, if he turns out not to be celiac, as this is becoming recognized as a problem, even when one is not actually celiac.********Red up on depression and gluten in The Gluten File. http://sites.google.com/site/jccglutenfree/depression%2Canxiety%2Cpanic

I don't have CD but when I removed gluten my depression disappeared along with many other symptoms. I did not even realize how depressed I was until I went GF because that is how I felt all my life. 

Only 1% of the population has CD but it is estimated from 6-30% have gluten sensitivity. The range is so wide because no studies have been done. It is difficult to pinpoint a condition when it can manifest as so many different symptoms. 

Mainstream doctors will tell you there are no tests for gluten sensitivity but Enterolab has been doing this for years. A new lab, Cyrex, also has some interesting tests. 
********Low thyroid, which often runs hand in hand with CD, causes depression if left untreated.********I agree, a doctor wouldn't suggest a gf diet unless there's a positive test. However, trying the gf diet is FREE (except for the added cost of gf "junk food"), and requires no doctor visit, no testing. Just dedication. I have realized that if people would put down ALL junk food - gf or non gf, they'd be a lot better off. Good healthy veggies, fruits, organic things, will NOT do you wrong. But it's just not the norm (and neither is good health, by the way) and most people will not go for it -  Their loss. I ask my clients - "How BAD do you want to feel GOOD?"   So yes, you can definitely have just depression. Most gluten sensitivity is VERY neurologically based, with or without celiac. Celiac is just one manifestation of the damage that gluten can
 do. ********http://celiachometest.typepad.com/celiac_home_test/2011/09/celiac-disease-and-depression.html********This is purely anecdotal evidence, but in our Celiac family, some people who have not been tested for Celiac have had some Celiac symptoms and have had significant depression.  My own depression disappeared when I became gluten-free.  I have read a number of times that depression can be a side effect of Celiac, so personally I consider emotional symptoms to be a significant aspect of Celiac.

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