Hedonism as a way of life.

Yesterday I was looking through the myspace forums and I came across a kid who was spouting off about hedonism. He says he's a follower of Epicurus and that he defines an act as worthy of approbation by it's effect to produce pleasure. I don't really know anything about Epicurus but I do know that he supported his theory by a statement to effect of "a virtuous life is virtuous because it is pleasant. It is necessary that a life should be pleasant if it is to be virtuous". Something like that anyway (if I'm way off please correct me). So if I'm rightly interpreting Epicurus he is merely saying that it's hard to be just and virtuous when we're depressed. This is very sound psychology. It's clear to anyone that's ever suffered from depression that when you don't feel good about yourself (or whatever else) it's hard to do good things (for yourself or others). Seems right on the money. It sounds like a good practical philosophy, definitely a rarity nowadays. But wait! Lets look at those poor depressed people again. What actually prevents or relieves depression? According to this kid on myspace (I won't presume about Epicurus) there would be no difference between treating depression with a bunch of booze and sex or treating it with compassion, inquiry, and exercise. Both methods produce pleasure to one degree or another but what is alcohol going to do for the man in the long term? Not only that but will he be able to function is "just" ways when he is drunk? Will he be fully rational? Will he be able to consistently pull himself out of his depression with this method? Probably not. Maybe some people can but it would be way too risky to attempt to make this an appropriate therapy.
So we must qualify the pleasure we use to enhance our lives right? Didn't Aristotle or Plato (I think it was Plato) describe something like this? I think Johnny Mill did too. Because if you don't qualify our pleasure based on the benefits (weighed against other available pleasures) then we could be screwing ourselves over something fierce. Drinking has it's place but unfortunately for the presently depressed it's more than likely not with them. It won't help them lead a pleasant life. It might help the satisfied businessman unwind after a hard day at work. That's great but he's already happy, and when he wakes up the next day his reason and outlook will still be clear and rational. So perhaps I'm circling in on a statement like "pleasure preserves and promotes a pleasant life for the virtuous, but cannot be considered a general therapy or a definite cause for giving moral approbation to those who have not demonstrated sound judgement or lasting benefit to themselves or others."

I've also got a lot more to say about all this, I think the question about the value of pleasure is highly underrated so I'm going to be devoting some more time to it in the near future. Please note that this post does not actually represent my personal philosophy, I was just voicing my response to some kid on myspace. I'll reconsider it in the near future, do the research necessary, and post something I can really stand behind.