As with physical pain, drugs can mask an underlying cause. Many psychologists, doctors and psychiatrists will tell you that the drug is bringing an abnormal or chemical imbalance back to a more natural state. When asked to do a test for this as one would do for a physical ailment, no test can be produced; there never has been one.
So, you are struggling with your depression and want some kind of relief, anything just to be unstuck from this awful cloying mass and feeling that is with you every minute of the day. The Doctor offers you you a pill or a bottle of pills like Xanax or some such promising relief. Offering one kind of hell for another; for now you are in a chemical straight jacket as when the effects of the drug wear off here comes your funk again.
In 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's depression as a 'disease was pretty much unheard of. The folks that would make money from your illness would have you believe that half you school class back in those days were just hiding a constant horribleness. I have spoken to hundreds and hundreds of people from these earlier eras and this is just not true. Unless I was only able to find those who were not constantly dogged by depression. Certainly many voiced that they were some times troubled and sad; life as a teen can be horrible at times but any that I spoke with were able to come out of it without drugs.
There is this idea purported by the medical industry that this particular day and age, this society is more stressful than earlier times. They would have us believe that this the only era where anyone had difficulty with their parents or children.
I know that you think that your situation is special and different. Believe me it is. But at the same time it isn't.
So what did people do before drugs were the answer. Do you want a quick fix? Something that will mask the symptoms? Or do you want to fix it? I do honestly know that it feels like it is something that cannot be fixed. But believe me you and the human race are made of sterner stuff than that. You may not think that now but it is the truth.
I read this book years ago by a psychiatrist named Sydney Walker Jr. The book was called A Dose Of Sanity. It was about the mood altering drug Prozac. One of the things that he said repeatedly in the book was that he could invariably find out the underlying physical cause of some mental difficulty. He gave examples ranging from allergies to brain tumours where Prozac had been prescribed nearly causing deaths if Dr. Walker had not intervened.
I am not entirely convinced,though, that every person that is depressed has some physical problem. I have seen too many people resolve their depression in other ways. I have this friend at the gym. He was prescribed drugs as a solution to his depression by his doctor. His uncle got a hold of him and took him to a martial arts class and he never looked back, never took any of the drugs, he didn't need them anymore once started training.
This may not be the solution for everybody and may be more difficult for you to start something to change. Also, some in the medical industry would argue that he was not really depressed if it was that easy; that a little exercise is not going to resolve something of this depth. If you listen to his story, it was not that easy, but he was able to persist with help of his uncle.
Sometime that is what is needed. Someone to help you get from here to there. The majority of time the solutions to the most complex situations are ver, very simple! (I know there is no way you are going to believe that when you terribly depressed.)
A couple of things to try and hold onto when you are feeling the worst: firstly, it is not, no matter what you think, you! And two: it can get better - there is something that you can do about it.