(((AvidReader))) I can relate. I do not usually like to ask for help either. I was brought up in a household where it was better to be completely self-sufficient. I have prided myself on it. But it made it harder to ask for help when depression got unbearable. It is odd to think that it is counterintuitive. That it might be a stronger thing to reach out and ask for help. That when one thing doesn't work you might have to try a different thing or if one person doesn't "get it" you might have to explain it a different way or find someone else... I guess it just comes down to, at the end of the day, medication and therapy are the best ways to treat severe depression. I have come up against this too. I was diagnosed for four years before even starting medication (I was going to fix it by myself).