They would probably inquire as to who was your regular doctor. Options: (1.) Contact your county/local mental health agency. (2.) Closely examine the http://1-800-therapist.com website, and use the locators, in section 1, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris and phone book, to find someone suitable. Personally, I'd opt for a psychologist who believes in only recommending minimal necessary medication, if at all, because they don't issue prescriptions, so are considerably less likely to be involved with the rewards, and inducements offered by sales reps from "big pharma": the large drug companies, to psychiatrists. (3.) Psychological counselling, with a sliding scale, based on income, is available through many religious organisations, such as Catholic counselling, the Methodist church, and the Unitarian Universalists. You don't have to be a member. Use in addition to the core techniques, below, as with (4.) Online counselling, through www.psychology.com or www.onestepatatime.com or www.kasamba.com ~~~ My standard post follows: There is a quiz about depression, through sections 1, and 2, at ezy build, below: print the result, and take along to your primary mental health care provider. With depression, there is a choice of possible treatment types which needs to be made, and you can decide to use either allopathy, (modern Western medicine) with its reliance on antidepressants and therapy, or alternative treatments, which I advise trying first. This is because antidepressants are known to increase the rates of suicide, homicide, and aberrent behavio(u)r, particularly with young people, and often have unwanted side effects, such as sexual dysfunction, and/or weight gain.
Tests have shown that apart from clinical (major) depression, their results were not significantly superior to those taking a placebo (inert, or "sugar pill"). Antidepressants retain a degree of long term effectiveness for only around 30% of people. There is a saying in the mental health field: "If the only tool you have in your kit is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as a nail". So it goes with doctors, and their prescription pads: handy, quick, and convenient, when trying to manage their large list of patients, and often allocating only several minutes to each.
Most of them are only trained to provide antidepressants and referrals for therapy, with those whose depression is resistant to those treatments being advised to have ElectroConvulsive Therapy, (ECT) with its risk of permanent, partial memory loss. Therapy, while often effective at first, becomes "same old, same old" after a while, for many people.
I now suggest: (1.) Take 4 Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily, (certified free of mercury) with an antioxidant, such as an orange, or grapefruit, or their freshly squeezed juice. If vitamin E is used, it should be certified as being 100% from natural sources, or it's synthetic, avoid it. (2.) Work up slowly to 30 - 60 minutes of exercise, daily. (3.) Occupational therapy (keeping busy allows little time for unproductive introspection, and keeps mental activity out of less desirable areas of the brain). (4.) Use daily, one of the relaxation methods in sections 2, 2.c, 2.i, or 11, and/or yoga, Tai Chi, and/or the EFT, in sections 2.q, 2.o, and section 53, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris whichever works best for you. (5.) Initially, at least, some form of counselling, preferably either Cognitive Behavio(u)ral Therapy, or Rational Emotive Behavio(u)ral Therapy. (6.) As options, if desired, either a known, effective herbal remedy, such as St. John's wort, or a supplement, such as SAMe, taken with a vitamin B complex which is certified as being 100% of natural origin, or Inositol (from vitamin and health food stores, some supermarkets, or mail order: view section 55).
If the amount of daylight you have been exposed to recently has reduced, perhaps due to the change of seasons, see Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) in section 2, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris and, instead of taking around 4 Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily; replace 2 of them with cod liver oil supplements for the winter months only! (or, as probably a better alternative to the 2 cod liver oil supplements: 1 teaspoonful of cod liver oil, with a little butter, to ensure its use; I take mine on sourdough rye bread, or toast, covered with fishpaste, and pepper, to mask the strong taste). Optimal levels are 50 - 55 ng/ml (115 - 125 nmol / L). It should be above 32 ng/ml.
Don't use medications and supplements together, without medical advice, except for Omega 3, which is safe, anytime. Omega 3 fish oil supplements: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid (omega 3) ----360 mg.DHA (docosahexaenoic acid (omega 3)-----240 mg
Take enough supplements to attain, or exceed the levels (no possibility of overdose) of those every day, with an orange, or the juice of a freshly squeezed orange, grapefruit, or other antioxidant.
(make sure the epa is higher then the dha) important for adults... kids need the opposite levels: more dha than epa, but all are beneficial, if you can't achieve the recommended proportions.
They should be certified as being free of mercury, and if containing vitamin E, it should be shown as from a natural source; otherwise it is synthetic: avoid it! Consider having your doctor test your vitamin D levels, (60% of depressed people have low vitamin D levels!) using the 25 Hydroxyvitamin D test. Those people who receive adequate exposure to sunlight, daily, won't need the vitamin D from cod liver oil, but many people, particularly those in latitudes far from the equator, find this difficult to achieve.
If the above is insufficient for you, after several months, (unlikely) try one of the alternatives, such as the neurofeedback, magnetic, or low current electrical stimulation, or EMDR therapy, (see section 33, at ezy build) keeping ECT back, as a last resort. Read: "Lift your mood now." by John D Preston, Psy.D. 2001, New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 5674 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland. CA 94609 http://www.amazon.com/ may be worth trying for this. I have read many books on depression, but if there is a better, more easily read, and quickly implementable one, I have yet to encounter it.