Buzzcoil
Not in the mental health field, by the public perhaps.
Depression is not feeling low because you've had a bad day or because your team loses. No one with any level of competence is going to give you a diagnosis because of that. Reactive depression is sustained low mood that impacts on your ability to function following a significant life event, when the expected amount of time to recover has long since passed but one cannot return to normal functioning. Clinical depression is sustained low mood that impacts on your ability to function but with no particular cause-it just happens and it is very difficult to shift without treatment theraputic or medicinal.
Paranoid schizophrenia is a whole other kettle of fish and should inhibit a career in flying, the former shouldn't. Again no mental health professional worth their salt is going to think they are the same. Even if you gave a layperson the diagnostic criteria, the checklist is vastly different.
I can get why the public is confused, primarily due to irresponsible reporting by the media.