Huh... this is a really interesting point. And the question posed is one I have asked myself many, many times.

I suppose you would put me in the category of people who cannot and will not engage in getting well. I obstinately refuse to get professional help and I'm just trying to 'get by' with what I can do myself. This isn't something I'm proud of, it's more of a compromise with my fear. I have difficultly admitting to myself that I MIGHT indeed have some form of depression. Getting help would be taking this whole embarressing thing entirely too far.

I have waited for someone else to turn the light on. I have wished someone would ask my if I felt depressed or talk to me about depression. I have wished my parents would notice what seems so obviously wrong instead of saying it's "just me". I didn't get the love and attention I craved as a child. Maybe I asked too much, maybe I was given too little. I don't know. My point is not to pin blame, but to find the missing pieces to the puzzle.

I do want to be well. Yet sometimes I cling to the 'safety' and 'reassurace' my present situation offers. I'm not saying that what I am doing is right or in any way intelligent. I think it's absolutely stupid and I loathe myself for it. I think it's my fault I'm not getting better. But feeling so low so much has made me incredibly passive. It feels like life just happens, carries me along while I wait for the end.

So little*rino, I think you're right. I think some people don't get well because they don't 'want to'. But not everyone. I think there are also some people who genuinely want to be well, but nothing seems to help. I can only try to speak for myself.