my 2cents worth
2stay,
My H was diagnosed as being depressed a little over a year ago. At the time, I was very angry b/c his dr. didn't even have him take the written test (which takes about 3 hours from what I hear), just talked to him and diagnosed him on the spot. Prescribed Zoloft to him, didn't ask him if he drank too, and of course H didn't say he did. Yes, the bottle says do not mix with alcohol, but lots of meds say that so he drank anyway. He went to rehab last fall, declined a meeting with the chief psychologist who wanted to really test him. He relapsed within months, and this May was back in rehab again. This time he listened...taking anti-depressants and mixing alcohol can actually make their condition worse! The alcohol nulls the affect of the pills as well. This time he agreed to the request of the psychologist and underwent intense testing, and was diagnosed bi-polar. We then found out that if a dr. miss-diagnoses a patient as just being depressed, that only taking an anti-depressant can lead to some very serious side effects in the future. This is a very serious subject, and one I think deserves a 2nd opinion or even two. If a doctor diagnoses someone as depressed, just by talking to them only, something is wrong.
I also suggest that you take the time to read up on this subject and gain all the knowledge that you can, so that you are well informed. There is a lot of information about both depression and bi-polar on the Mayo Clinic web site which I have found to be very helpful.
Best wishes,