I forgot to say that sleep is very important. Now, sometimes with depression you sleep all the time. But there are also times when you can’t sleep, particularly when depression is associated with anxiety. Go to bed at the same time every night. Do not watch TV before you sleep. Read a book or something, instead. No news. You want to soothe yourself; not give yourself more to worry about.
As to family members not believing in depression—that is a serious problem. The advice out there that I see suggests that you should tell them, anyway. Here’s and article from Wikihow about how to tell them, and what to do if they aren’t helpful. Now I’m a little leery of Wikihow since a friend of mine just told me how she writes articles for them (when she doesn’t know something, she asks my brother, since she doesn’t know a thing about the topic she’s writing on), but I’ve read this advice and it makes sense to me.
Your parents are not going to KILL you. That is depression talking. They love you and if you follow the instructions, I think you will have a very good chance of them taking you seriously. I think you should research depression at WebMD, so you have a list of symptoms to show them this is serious. Also, scare them about how many people end up dead. I’m sorry. I’m about to get really angry about this. My parents are like this, too, and I never told them I was sick. That is ok, because I’m an adult, but they could have made my teenhood a lot better if they had acknowledged I was in trouble back then. You need your parents to be on your side and to advocate for you.
Part of why you don’t believe they will is because of the depression. Depression can make you believe you are not worth it. I don’t know why your parents don’t believe in it because you haven’t said. Is it religious? Is it that they think people are lazy and can just pull themselves out of it if they want? Do they know what clinical depression is? Education can help.
You need help. Your parents should help. You shouldn’t have to educate them to get the help. But life doesn’t treat us fairly, so that’s what you have to do, sometimes. Do all the work yourself even though you are in no position to do it. The other thing you could do, although I do not recommend this, is to let yourself go to the point where you have to be hospitalized. If you ever do that, you want to plan which hospital you go to, because most of them really suck.
Also, find an online support group for teens with depression. The National Alliance on Mental Illness runs such support groups. The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) also runs online support groups and you could join a general support group, or they may even have one especially for teens. People who spend 4 years in a support group tend to be much healthier than those without support. You need people like you because they are the only ones who really understand and who you can feel safe speaking the truth to. I can tell you that my support group has been crucial in saving my life.
All right. I hope I’m not overwhelming you with information. You are not alone. You can get better. You can get help. It is worth trying your parents. They might surprise you. Even if they don’t help, you can get help anyway. People understand and will provide services whether you can pay or not. Do not let money stop you. Your life is at risk and you are too smart to be willing to give it up. Help is available and it works!!!!