I was 44 before I got any kind of treatment for my depression/anxiety. I'd struggled through H.S. and then college-college more because it was the 'easy choice', not because I had a clue what I wanted to do or how to manage to do it.
It wasn't until a job I'd had for ten years was being eliminated--company closing down--that I reached my 'bottom'. I was terrified because I didn't know how I could manage to deal with finding a new job and doing that job. I was probably near a nervous breakdown.
I called my family doctor--whom I'd really only been to see for bronchitis. Making that call to set up the appt. was hard. I'd known I needed to do it. But, I was afraid. I had coping mechanisms--ok, they weren't totally working, but they were what I was used to.
I was lucky in that the first medication I was prescribed actually worked. I know that a lot of people have to go through a number of Rx before one works. The only change I had to make was an increased dosage after the first 2-3 weeks.
I feel like I am the same person as before, but better. I am functional. I feel like I can contribute to the world around me. I can actually 'see' the world around me because I am no longer just making it through each day.