After rewatching "Sons of Mogh" recently, I was taken aback by the solution implemented by Bashir, Worf and everyone to handle Kurn's depression and desperation after losing his honor.
Without Kurn's consent, they took away virtually his entire memory, leaving him absolutely clueless and dependent on the deceptions of others regarding who he was/is. How is it that a Starfleet doctor knowingly performed this operation, and with the approval of Sisko? Was it completely off-the-books?
To me, it was a sorry end for a great character that we first got to know in TNG. In the TNG episode "Ethics," Worf was similarly despairing over his life, and wanted his life to end. Instead, with full knowledge of his situation, he found a reason to live and move forward - as Worf. In contrast, Kurn walked away from his operation a mere shell of his former self, with no chance of making the same progress as Kurn.
As demonstrated in "Ethics," the answer to depression & despair is not to rob a person of their identity, but rather to help them through it. After Kurn's operation, Worf basically washed his hands of the matter and cut his brother out of his life forever. This was a solution that was over-the-top and without the patient's consent. And there's no reason to think that Kurn wouldn't become depressed again AS A RESULT of having no memory of his past. It would be incredibly unsettling to wake up with no knowledge of who you are, and there's no predicting where things would go from there.
Would anyone want to be left clueless and dependent on the deceptions of others when we faced a severe crisis, or would we want people to stick by us through it all? I dealt with severe depression myself years ago, and I'm grateful for the people who stuck by me, and the opportunity to continue growing through adversity. That said, I would welcome other perspectives on this episode, because depression is a widespread and relevant issue, along with identity.
