Depression does not go away on its own. In many cases of depression (such as dysthymia) depressive episodes come and go. Once an episode ends the depressed person often perceives they are better and back off on treatment or perhaps even rule out treatment that they considered during the episode but blow it off when the episode ends. The problem is when depressed people have episodes they have a higher chance of having more frequent and often more intense episodes in the future. It is very cyclic. Often times depressed people get medication but don't go to a counselor to work on some sort of behavior modification. My W is a good example. She is not getting any PTSD and depression counseling after a major tragedy in our family. As for your W she has been through a lot and that only adds to her depression issues. When depression issues and real life tragedies and issues (such as her being raped) happen in tandem the depressed person often wants to do nothing but run from their problems. They are so frazzled everything else needs to be dropped and not dealt with and all they want to do is run away and go into survival mode. The selfish overtly independent attitude is her smoke screen. Good luck
