I know how you must be very frustrated. ImNotHere is giving you the hard reality. I am sure you want nothing more than to have a happy, healthy, "normal" family. My Mom drove herself nuts trying to deal with my brother and I in our teenage years. She was at her wits end many times. I remember her saying "We are going to have a happy normal family if it kills me."

Depression is a very difficult disease for people to understand and deal with. If you have never had a real serious clinical depression then you have no idea. I would say educate your self as much as possible about the disease. Read a bunch of threads in this forum for a better understanding of what it is like for us. Research the genetic and biological causes of depression. Utilize all the resources you can find for support for you and all your family.

It is hard to accept, hard to deal with and it is not fair. It may be embarassing. I agree. But life is not fair. You will have to accept it and fight for the help your son needs and your family needs. You will have to fight the embarassment and the stigma that goes with it. It is a process.

It is going to take a lot of patience, persistance, and compassion. He can and will get better.

My parents kids are all adults in our 40's and 50's with kids of our own. Our family has been through hell and back with alcoholism, addiction, depression, attempted suicides, etc. etc. I just spent two days with all of them. We have never been closer and healthier as a family ever. We all had to individually do alot of work over the years.