I can only talk from my own experience there. I could copy your sentence about "Some of your reasons for depression... " and apply it to me.

But looking back, early on it was safer for me to keep my problems to myself. The thing I did learn to do was how to take care of other people. Therefore it has been particularly hard to get my needs met, easier with therapists, MUCH harder with friends.

Which affects how I interact in group therapy. The easy thing is to help other people out with their problems. My protective mechanisms kick in in the instants when I have to decide whether or not to talk. Sometimes I think I've said something deserving further attention, but it gets ignored even by the therapist. The conclusion I've come to is that I haven't learnt HOW to get the attention I need. My five word comments aren't significant enough to get picked up on. I also feel as if other people come first so if someone else starts talking I can't hang on to the attention for long enough.

The thing with any good group is that all of this comes out. Last week the 3 people who find it easier to talk, just stopped at one point realising that the 2 of us who find it harder hadn't contributed. The therapist regularly talks to us about why it's so difficult and encourage us to give it a go. Our contributions towards other peoples' problems are recognised, but our problems are too.

Of course the whole decision is up to you, but it might be worth a try. You are encouraged to talk about how you feel about the group interactions, so if you feel mad about how things are going you can say so, and talk about how the situation feels to the other people. Reality checks. There aren't many opportunites in life like that! Maybe later in the process...

Sometimes if I need to be with people but don't want to talk to anyone taking a book or my computer to a cafe really helps.

Dogs are also great company. I borrow (look after) someone else's - the human interactions are a bit painful, but spending a week with Elvis the chocolate lab is great!!!