I would be so mad if I was asked that. Actually I had a counselor who claimed depression is always a choice. I should have walked out but I was so hurt I forgot I could do that.

Here is how I see it. Depression hurts you to the core. It is like mental pain. It is like someone is driving a nail into your mind. If someone came in after a work accident with a real nail through their arm, NO ONE would ask if they want it left there and if screaming in pain is the way they want life.

The problem with depression is not not wanting out, it is not knowing how. When someone is depressed, their thinking is often impaired so they simply cannot come up with solutions. Also when they are in a low state, they might also believe they will never get out, because the feelings tell them so.

A good therapist should address this. Reassure that you CAN get better and also GIVE you a way of getting better. If they cannot give you the tools, they are useless. That is their dang job!!!

Sometimes people who have had depression a long time can be unwilling to get better because they have forgotten how feeling good feels. So they think feeling better is feeling the way they do now, but also having more responsibility. They cannot remember when they did things with ease. Then it might be harder to want to be well, because they perceive being well as harder as being sick, when the opposite is true.

And also, some people think that being free of depression with deprive them of spiritual depth, they think they will be boring and shallow. Which is not the case. Met people who have been depressed and they didn't turn into mindless zombies. But I understand the fear.

But overall, MOST people WANT not be depressed, just like most people don't want to walk around with physical pain. Your therapist should not passively look at you "swimming". Say this was a real lake. And she saw you swimming around getting more and more tired. A normal reaction would be that you couldn't find land and jump in to save you. You don't stand on the shore wondering if the person tries to find land or not....