Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum, I've been struggling with depression since I was a teen (now in my early 30s) I've tried to get help on and off over the years but mostly got turned away by doctors thinking I was making it up or using it as an excuse, had a counsellor once very briefly but felt like she was judging me, so I've had a hard time trying to get help again but just recently things have got really bad and hard to cope with. I'm a single mum to an 11 year old girl who has started noticing something is wrong to the point she went to the school counsellor and I ended up getting called in to school. Turns out the school were incredibly helpful and put me in touch with a service you can self refer to, I've had a telephone appointment so far which seemed to go OK (although at times it felt as though she didn't really believe me but maybe that's my paranoia from previous attempts at help) and I'm now waiting for an actual appointment. The thing is since my telephone appointment I've started feeling worse and so I thought maybe joining a forum like this could help in the meantime. I apologise for the incredibly long introduction (if anyone has even got this far!) I just felt like maybe it could help to talk to other people who are going through depression as none of my friends really understand (although they do try) and so I find it difficult to confide in them as I feel as though I'm a burden. Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read this