Am I suffering from depression? AGE 26

[Wes430]

So my whole life I have been this way. I prefer  not to leave the house. I am happy just sitting home and watching tv and playing video games for hours. I would rather not socialize with people if I have to go out. I can go the entire weekend with never stepping foot out of my house. I don't ever have the urge to want to clean the house or do laundry or go to the store to pick up food. I will most of the time order in or snack. I would not say I am SAD and feel like a dark cloud lingers over me but I just don't ever want to do anything or make friends. It's causing a problem in my realationship because I never want to do anything. When I do go out and go shopping I have no desire to buy anything even though I am well off.

EXTRA: I tried esctasy for the first time. The next day was the most productive I have ever been in a year. I got up and cleaned the house, did the laundry, went to the store, got a tan... so I am just wondering if my happy levels are low ... I am 26 years old FYI.

PS- I have been like this for much of middle school / high school and my adult life

[Paxiled]

If depression and anxiety are caused by a chemical imbalance, we don't know what it is.  Antidepressants certainly don't address it.  They alter the way our brains normally work to increase comfort, more like a painkiller than something that addresses the cause.  I wouldn't use them unless absolutely necessary just as I wouldn't have surgery performed on me unless absolutely necessary.  It seems to me the question for the poster is, are you happy?  When you do have to deal with things, do you come through without emotional difficulty?  People are different and are also different at different periods of their lives.  I assume you're writing on this forum because you'd like to be different from what you are now.  The best way to do that is to do the things you think you're missing out on and see if it supplies the same energy as taking the drug did.  You don't sound clinically depressed, but you do seem terminally bored.  

[pitter]

I am not a doctor, or psychiatrist, but it sounds like to me that  you may  have some sort of imbalance ,that could be improved. I was depressed, and went to a psychiatrist, took  an depressant for a few years, and it helped me tremendously. It changed my life. Don't let your live go by like this, you can be happier, just go get the help you need. Many people have a chemical imbalance that can be changed.  

[pitter]

And that will give you more energy and desire to do  things!! And have more joy too.

[AnxiousNoMore]

That would be a good start. Maybe he doesn't need a med though, but the psychiatrist can figure it out.
It seems Wes doesn't work and he says he is well off, so that may be the biggest factor. Meds should be a last resort, and he is comfy with his lifestyle, so I would see what the psychiatrist has to say.