Objective：From the perspective of Chinese medicine，depression is mainly resulted from emotions and is closely related to the heart.Its basic pathogenesis is the dysfunction of the heart governing bright spirit and blood vessels as well as qi-blood and yin-yang disharmony in viscera and bowels.The clinical treatment for depression mainly focuses on nourishing the heart to calm the mind，and combines with methods to tonify qi and blood，nourish yin，fortify the spleen，smooth the liver and activate blood，which has definite curative effect.The method of nourishing the heart to calm the mind is further proved by basic researches to improve the abnormalities of ethology and other aspects of patients with depression，whose mechanism is closely related to the nervous-endocrine-immune system.The treatment for depression from the heart is strongly supported by theory，clinical practice and basic research，which is worthy of promotion and application.