For awhile, I decided that my depression was almost entirely biological. Then I realized this decision came after I also decided that I couldn't do anything about it. Of course I accept that there are biological components to depression. And biploar d/o, of course. If I didn't believe that, why would I be taking medication? However, through my therapy, I have come to realize that my depression, along with my mood swings, especially the "highs," are largely characterological. And only therapy can help me work on this-- the medication is just a temporary tool, in hopes that it will balance me out just a bit, enough to help me focus on the important stuff for the time being (school, internship, therapy, relationship, work).

So basically what I'm saying is I made my decision that my problems were biological in a time of great frustration and stagnation in what I was going through. I am not sure what makes you feel as though you haven't gotten to 'the core.' I am not discounting your feelings at all, just pointing out that from reading your post, you have obviously made extremely long strides, and have engaged in great progress. I know that with my own therapy, I cannot identify one core. It is more like a mess of entanglement, lol. Will it ever get untangled? I don't know. But I can already mark my progress in several areas. I guess that's what I am looking for-- areas of progress, rather than getting to the core in me. Maybe you just need to redefine your reasons for staying in therapy? I don't think anything needs to be changed... perhaps just newly defined... sometimes that helps a lot. Yesterday, my T helped me to redefine something.... I told him, "You think that I'm difficult, don't you?" And he said, "Is it that I think you are difficult, or is it that this is a difficult situation?" See what I mean? Nothing changed, but the way I was perceiving the issue shifted. Have you talked about all this with your therapist? Anyway, I hope that I am not completely off base with every single thing I said, lol.