I agree with starting off abruptly, but maybe by asking: "Do you have some time?" "There's something I would like to discuss with you, in private, if you have the time" "Can we schedule a time, when are you not too busy?". I think maybe taking control of this first step by yourself is actually quite powerful in itself, and I never realised that until much later, when I decided to go and seek help with a therapist. The way I saw it was, HEY, this depression is a burden to ME, so at least I want the dignity of dealing with it MY way and taking the first shot against it, so to speak. Not taking the first step and waiting for somebody to notice how you feel is a way of giving this disease unimaginable power over you, and also wastes much time of course, in which something could have been achieved. I never understood the depression that was hovering over my life for a good part of 20 years, and for 2 years after realising I was depressed I still did nothing. I now wish I had done something much earlier. You have that chance. By taking initiative, you might find that this first step in itself is a big one already. With almost all diseases in life, not wanting to do anything about it is the first hurdle it throws at you. You can almost view depression as a living entity in some regard. It LIKES living within you. It discourages you to take action because it DOES NOT WANT to leave. It convinces you that any action will lead to immediate failure, and brings up your past experiences to "prove" this to you - DON'T buy these lies that it tells you. Depression is nasty, and very cunning, remember that. I feel this entity within me sometimes and I can hear all of its lies, it's like a little voice in your head. Sometimes it's in the form of memories, or painful feelings coming back. Trust me, it knows how to screw with your mind. Right now, what it's doing is making you doubt, "should I ask the teacher?" "what will he think of me?" "gee, I don't know if this is such a good idea anymore". You've got to ignore all these feelings and reach out to your source of help. Sorry if I got a bit off-track here, but I don't know how else to describe this phenomenon, and how to encourage you. Hope this helps in understanding it a little more, at least how it appears for me.