Most of these comments are ridiculous, impractical, and are responses from people that are clearly not life long suffers of chronic depression. I myself have known I felt this way since I was in grade school...
Psychologist or psychiatrist? Ha ha - After much reflection I can tell you exactly why they won't be able to help me - they follow the same structure as someone who practices medicine - my point? They don't care about what you have to say and you can tell how impersonal the entire situation is because at some point YOU REALIZE THE PERSON YOU ARE SPEAKING TO IS FOLLOWING A COOKIE-CUTTER LIST OF QUESTIONS. Without going into depth about my current place in life and what I've seen and done academically - I've grown rather pessimistic of the health care system - and the extension of this model in mental health.
I've realized that while I am going there to seek "treatment" - rather than me speaking, it is always the health care worker rambling off questions like I'm part of a fucking form letter. My personal lens through which I view the world and how I perceive that I fit into the human web of society - and this lack of connection to other human beings - is what brought my into this "treatment" option in the first place. Yet, after I do all that I can to drag my ass out of bed and arrive to the physical location to get into the god damn room, I'm being read a bunch of bullshit questions. Furthermore, if ever given the opportunity to speak - its just expected that I magically "connect" with this person with the clipboard whom I've not met before or not on a long term and consistent basis. Meanwhile, this asshole is most likely thinking about how many more patients they need to see so that they can make their new car payment - as they attempt to tune me out. Amongst other things, they also are really thinking about how they listen to people bitch all day about their problems - problems that are subjective to that person's own experiences - so the self entitled little bitch who comes in crying that she can't fit into her trendy high school because daddy didn't get that BMW she wanted - was then followed by the patient who was raped by an uncle, had a drug addict for a mother, and saw their father fuck the family dog right before putting a .357 into their mouth and splattering their brainstem all over the family room wallpaper. Now - imagine the mental health care worker trying to sort all of this out themselves.
If you think any of what I've said isn't true then you don't understand the system of mental health care. If someone in the mental health care setting is reading this, then they know exactly what the fuck I'm talking about. The story about the girl-crying-bmw followed by the person whose last memory of father and dog were fido getting fucked and medulla oblongata sliding down the floral wallpaper backdrop - these 2 stories one immediately following the other - actually happened. Told to me by someone I know who is licensed in the mental health profession, licensed by the state to prescribe medication, etc etc...(person is a blood relative)... Some of you wonder why at the end of the day, the person just throws a bunch of pills at you.
I'm also amused that people who tell others to "go get professional help" are so fucking enthusiastic. For myself, no medications have really helped me personally. When it comes to the group of folks that can be classified, using the current DSM-IV standards as suffers of chronic long-term depression, there is nothing that will "cure" them and the degree to which medication helps somebody is unique to that individual.
SOBERING STATISTIC (TRUE) - Roughly 2/3rds of individuals whom have committed suicide have seen a mental health care professional within the last 30 days prior to killing themselves. It is an ignorant assumption that I've seen many make to assume that "...if only they had talked to someone..." Give me a fucking break you ignorant fucks.
One more thing, I don't know if some of you are young, ignorant, naive etc etc... but some of the response shere that appear to be someone offering a suggestion that they think might help (eg., killing oneself over webcam clearly isn't a suggestion that will help another)- those that are attempting to say "dude, eff the system" or "go to mexico" or "dude, you don't need a woman or a kid dude" or "do drugs/drink" - from my perspective, have no idea what depression at this magnitude is like. If I were a betting person, I would say that those "mental" outlets have been explored, long ago - or - the person contemplating suicide realizes after much thought - that they are band-aid fixes.
To the original poster - I have not walked a mile in your shoes - so I can not say that I "understand" your specific point that you are at, but I have been walking further and further down this rabbit hole myself and with this connection - can say that I am burdened with the same pain of getting out of bed at some point everyday and looking at myself in the mirror - asking myself how the hell I fit in this grand cluster-fuck that some folks call "civilization" or "society." I don't bend over backwards to try to conform to what mainstream media tries to perpetuate as a social norm, so I don't feel a need for specific achievements as if life were a fucking video game - specific "achievements" and keeping up with the jones' who always have their side of the lawn greener than their neighbors who continually try to finish a rat race with no defined goals (who haven't taken a moment for a break long enough to realize this) - these are not what keep me up at night. What bothers me is that enough people do follow this pattern that I find it increasingly difficult to make a connection with others, those that do not eat from the feeding-trough-o-bullshit. I want to feel a connection to human beings, which seems harder and harder to maintain with each passing day.