<span class="sjis">that's really not something to be embarassed about, OP - depression can infrequently be due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, but in most cases it's a very legitimate response to being grieved, overwhelmed, or treated unjustly; and can range in strength from a sense of feeling severely bruised, to a comparable injury as if the mind has been hit by a ten ton truck
here's the thing with depression though bro, if you try and ignore it or suppress it by self-medicating on drink or drugs it will get worse - like a festering wound that's not been treated properly
as for treatment, anti-depressants do actually work in taking the edge off the grief - allowing the sufferer to regain some measure of functionality - but one has to find the correct brand and dosage, which can take quite some experimentation and time; and more importantly, they are only a short-term measure to regaining some level of control, because in order to deal with the actual depression you have to talk about the underlying reasons for your grief, expressing it like someone vomiting out poison
this second part of the battle is what most folks miss out on, under the misunderstanding that anti-depressants are happy pills which will sort eveything out - but in fact they are merely a first-aid measure to help one get to a place where they can receive real healing
i suggest you think about this two-pronged attack on your illness and seriously consider whether you are willing to put your already faltering energy into really battling your illness [/spoiler]