Well first of all, you have every right to be at a support group, that's what they're for! You usually have to give a small nominal amount of money at them so it's handy that way too! Other people did have worse problems than me at the group I went to but it's not a case of "who's worse off", it's more that you're there with the same common problem, in this case depression and that you'll all help each other as a community really. And the depression is interfering with your life right now so you deserve to get the help you need. At my support group, I would talk about how I was feeling and this would help other people as they'd say things like "oh I can relate to what she said" etc. What going to a support group taught me is that you never really know how someone is feeling, most people put on a persona in public that "everything's fine" so hearing people speak so openly was like "wow, I would never known you had that issue otherwise" to me. I found that the people at the support group were really welcoming even though some of them were older than me; their attitude was very "oh I have the same problem too, the more the merrier here" so although I know that the thought of going is scary, that it will actually help you
I did make one or two friends there too so it can serve as a social outlet too if you want it to. You've no reason to feel guilty, you haven't killed anyone or done anything wrong. All you're doing is trying to help yourself recover from depression and you are co-operating with the GP and doing all you can to get better. It's not like you want to be depressed. You became depressed just like someone might be diagnosed with diabetes or any other illness. It's not your fault. Family and friends care about you so I'm sure they don't mind you asking for help; after all, I'm sure you offer them help and support when they have a problem too.
With regards to the CBT, I'd say do the programme you feel most comfortable with. If you try doing them all, you'll most likely feel overwhelmed (I tried doing this and I would think "omg which programme am I following?" in my head lol) Whether that's the "living life to the full" or "Overcoming Depression" or "The Feeling Good Handbook". I chose "The Feeling Good Handbook" however I have "dipped into" the other programmes and they're all equally good really.
With regard to the doctors and psychiatrists, the government don't put enough money in the pot for health and that's the central issue really as well as poor management and too much bureacracy within the health service. How and ever, I wouldn't let that deter you! You will get help!
I would say you need a psychologist, not a psychiatrist judging from the way you described your symptoms here. I hadn't a clue what the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist was before I had depression. Basically a psychiatrist is someone who did a medical degree but chose psychiatry as their specialism and they mainly deal with mental illness like manic depression, schizophrenia etc. A psychiatrist can prescribe stronger medication for mental health conditions than a GP as a GP is only general practice so a GP does a bit of everything and then refers you onto someone else if it requires specialised care. A psychologist did a psychology degree and probably masters/pHD if they're a consulant psychologist and they deal with issues like anxiety, depression amongst other things. A counsellor did a counselling course, probably a diploma and some certificates so they don't have as much training as a psychologist. Not to say that a counsellor can't be helpful too, of course they can however I would opt for a psychologist if at all possible!
I found it helpful to know the differences between psychologist/psychiatrist as no one tells you these things! I only found out because I asked lots of questions lol!
You definitely were right to tell the psychiatrist that you're not happy with the length of time it's taking to get therapy for you. Keep speaking up!! Depression is a very serious illness and it's sooo common only people don't talk about it (grr); a pharmacist told me that prescriptions for anti-depressants are the most common prescriptions that they see, that a lot of people are taking anti-depressants to help them function.
It is great that you've been to a GP and to a psychiatrist though and made good steps in seeking help. The main thing is that you keep trying to do WW, no one does it "perfectly", that's impossible however if you slip up you can always start again, that's the beauty of the programme. WW isn't a punitive programme-it gives you points for treats and doesn't ban any foods so you are on a healthy eating plan as opposed to a crash diet type of scenario. If you're feeling bad about your eating habits, remind yourself of your progress-I just scrolled up and saw that you've lost 3 stone and have only 8lbs to go to your target weight. That really is an amazing achievement and you've done it in a healthy sensible way too.
With regards to eating out, you could actually still lose weight provided you make healthy choices and keep tracking your points and get back on track asap if you do slip off plan. One bad meal doesn't make anyone gain weight, it's a series of successive bad meals that does!
Drink a lot of water and herbal tea (both 0 points) when you're eating out-I've had herbal tea instead of dessert before, I felt very virtuous lol. Another option is going across the road to a newsagent if it's there and getting a low calorie ice lolly like a Solero/loop the loop/tangle twister for your dessert instead of a restaurant dessert. I think Mr Freezes are fairly low calorie too but I'd have to check that one. Diet drinks are 0 points too-you could get a diet coke with lots of ice and a wedge of lemon or lime to flavour it up if you want.
As far as food goes, soup is good provided it's non-creamy, fruit is great, salad without dressing or croutons is good. Grilled chicken/fish/veg, boiled/steamed rice. Stir-fry is okay-ish, I'm sure you can ask them to use less oil in yours. Tomato based sauces on pasta as opposed to creamy ones. Thin crust pizza with chicken and veg or else just veg and get a 7inch one as opposed to 9inch and have a *plain* side salad with the pizza to fill you up without using much points. For fastfood, get a smaller portion or else plain salad, fruit and water. For cinema, fruit and water/diet drink or else curly wurly/dairy milk wafter thin chocolate bar/milky way bar/manhattan 30g bag of popcorn as opposed to a big massive bag of cinema popcorn etc. For Indian, chicken tandoori with salad or boiled rice. For Chinese, soup or stir fry. For Thai, steamed food or soup. Japanese is fairly low cal (miso soup, 1-2 maki rolls (the ones with the rice in them) are ok but just don't eat a load of them as sometimes they put cream cheese/mayo in them as a spread, sashimi is good too as it's just the fish), avoid tempura in Japanese places (it's batter!) Obviously don't have anything fried/deep fat fried/special fried etc if at all possible! For snacks on the go, cereal bar, piece of fruit, rice cakes or ryvita-pop a snack in your handbag when you're going out so you're prepared. Also a good idea to bring a bottle of water with you when you're going out. For fryups, eat less of the meaty stuff like sausage, bacon and more tomato, mushrooms, fried egg, baked beans, toast (use low fat butter though not full fat or else jam/marmalade).
