Sooooo, Ive been off the forum for a good few years, mainly battling my own depression, anger and anxiety, going through a breakdown for the 2nd or 3rd time etc etc and then finding friends and colleagues in and out of the industry that never made it through. From my own struggles and, if I can, I'll just pass on what Ive learned.
In 2016, I was sleeping less than 2 hours a day, a million thoughts rushing through my head but unable to focus on any particular one, feeling the worst about myself, what people thought of me and where the hell my life was going. Psychological bullying at my workplace of the time was making matters worse to the point I knew I needed help, and quickly. Walked into my doctor and told him I needed help, how I was feeling etc and, fortunately, he got me a psyche consult. Anyway, shrink 1 immediately diagnosed me with borderline personality disorder with comorbidities of major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder and a few others just to get the royal flush. Immediately prescribed a battery of blood tests, put me on sertraline 150mg and got me set up with a psychologist.
Once the sertraline kicked in, I had enough clarity of thought to leave my job. I was also able to work through a lifetime of issues, research the disorder and begin to understand triggers etc. It also made me realize what an absolute arsehole I'd been to some people and Ive since tried to make amends.
SSRI's have a downside in that, if you take a high enough dose (like me) they can have the affect of emotional numbing. This means all of your other emotions, happiness, excitement etc are muted. It can be hard but, they do help get you through those patches where you really feel like life is getting away from you. You need time for them to work though so don't dismiss them after a month or two because you don't feel they work. I've managed to reduce mine to 75mg a day but i'll be on them for life most likely and that's OK with me, they allow me to function somewhere resembling a normal human being. It's hard work to keep myself balanced but that dose seems to be a happy medium between being a zombie and being almost schizophrenic.
My advise, if it's worth anything at all, is to take the hints that the depression is giving you and seek professional help, even if it means going private. Depression is hard to fight at times, especially on your own so make sure you take your loved ones along "the journey" as they will be your help and support. They can't help if they don't know.
Sorry for the waffle but, I'm very much for raising awareness of mental disorders, depression etc. As men, we don't speak out about it, we act staunch, we bottle it up, we think we are a weaker person if we admit it. Don't be one of those people.