For myself, and other drunks I've heard from, putting the drink down was the first step in truly dealing with the depression.
Put me down as another case study which bears this out.
I don't see anyone not promoting medically supervised detox here Anthony - see a Dr by all means - try your hardest to find one who knows what the hell they're talking about. That should be the first step of everyone starting recovery and I doubt you'll find anyone in this thread who'll disagree.
But the reality of the longer haul - staying sober - is I have yet to find a GP who understands alcoholism as I've experienced it.
With regards self diagnosis....I'm not a doctor. I'm not a fireman either but I know when my ass is on fire.
I self medicated for 15 years (anxiety, depression, pain, insomnia)....by the time I quit, alcoholism (24/7 all day everyday) dwarfed them all.
I stopped 'medicating' - I got sober - I dealt with the other issues that were uncovered as they occured - some of them I had medical help with, others not.
I'm tired today - but for the life of me I can't see anyone else here suggesting anything different.
D