I would have to say I agree with most of that, Holy…
I seriously doubt the number of depressions resulting from chemical imbalances is anywhere near as high as the amount of people on drugs to “fix” their imbalances.
Just to share my own horror story:
I was having some emotional problems that I believed resulted from my social anxiety problems, so I went to a doctor. She asks me, have you ever thought about suicide? I’m thinking, what sane person hasn’t, of course I have. She references me to a psychologist who thoroughly convinces me that I’m depressed and that there’s something wrong with me. I go to a few of her “sessions,” which amount to no more than us debating about topics and her “correcting” me, (I’m being sarcastic, because I could literally think circles around this woman; there is no humble way to say it: I’m smarter than this person.) and a psychiatrist doping me up so bad I can barely think straight. After about 4 weeks, thanks to these quacks, I was more depressed than I ever have been. I literally tried to walk off a building, but couldn’t muster the guts to do it (death is even more scary than public speaking, I found out).
Finally, about a year and a half later, after doing quite a few illegal and quasi-legal self-prescribed drugs (and developing quite a distate for psychiatry), I’m finally back to the me that I remembered and thought I would never get back again. Sometimes I have some spells of general sadness (although it’s far more rarely than before), but I just write about it. (Actually, I’m writing a novelette about many of the topics that my depression stems from.) I’ve decided that, by far, I am the best person to deal with my own problems. When I reached my hand out in the hopes that someone could help me, vultures try to tear the flesh from my bones to get to my wallet. I may not be perfect, but at least I’m still alive, which is probably more than I could’ve hoped for placing my life and future in the hands of people who saw me as nothing more than a profit venue.
Holy tangent! Sorry, everybody needs to vent sometimes… sigh deep breath
As to not completely hijack your thread, I’ll summarize. You should definitely understand that there are risks involved. These self-proclaimed experts churn patients in and out all day, and they’ll tell you whatever it is you need to hear to keep their cash register ringing. I’ve heard quite a few times that many people on anti-depressants have been killing themselves in noticeable numbers recently. It might be a good idea to do a little more research, like holy suggests, before throwing yourself willy-nilly into the hands of these white-collar drug dealers (excuse the bias, I’m sure you’ll understand).
EDIT: Wow, excuse the poor English. My eyelids are literally heavy.