I know a lot of people avoid going to a doctor for depression out of fear that it might stigmatize them with an employer in the future. I don't know what an employer's rights are with regards to knowing your medical status, but chances are if you're up front with them if they come to you about it, you'll be fine if you just say "I've had some issues with depression in the past but it's being treated and is under control." It's a risk, but isn't it worth maybe having an employer find out, vs. being fucking miserable all the damn time?
And I'll give you my usual spiel about treating depression non-chemically. I'm on meds for depression and anxiety myself, so I have nothing against medical treatment of depression. However, there are a lot of things you can do that are just as effective as meds and can't hurt whether you're taking antidepressants or not. 1. EXERCISE. I can't stress this enough: regular exercise (at least 3x/week, 20 minutes per session) has been clinically shown to be as effective as antidepressants at relieving the symptoms of depression, and is effective at preventing recurrences of depressive episodes. It might take a while to kick in, but exercise starts to regulate your body chemistry and puts you on a more even footing, neurochemically speaking. 2. COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY. If you can afford it, it's usually a time-limited therapeutic course with a professional. You set goals, meet those goals, bam, you're done. No three years in talk therapy rehashing your childhood. It teaches you to retrain your cognitive habits so that some of the negative and illogical thought patterns that are at the source of (or contributing to) your depression are no longer your default. (For instance, recognizing when you label yourself a loser instead of looking objectively at the facts without judging the situation so harshly). 3. Meditation can be helpful. I haven't practiced very regularly, but mindfulness meditation can be really useful in helping you separate "you" from your emotions.
Best of luck, dude.
