"new study of Chinese-American youth has found that family obligation, for example caring for siblings or helping elders, plays a positive role in the mental health of Chinese-American adolescents and may prevent symptoms of depression in later teenage years."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0604124804.htm
Just thought this might be useful for some people out there looking for alternative treatments for depression.
You can't ignore the east-west duality of philosophy and culture though. The east tends to focus more on one's responsibilities whereas the west tends to focus more on one's individuality. So it is possible the helping one's family, might just be comforting that socially engineered part of the brain. In western culture it might do the opposite. So art, for example, might help the westerner more. Of course these are generalizations, and there are bound to be exceptions. In my opinion though there is an ideal balance between civil duty and individual expression.