how can i convince my dad that my depression is real and that i am not being lazy, "taking the easy route, pretending, etc.? i have suffered from depression on and off from at least 2005 (possibly before). i have been on antidepressants since 1999 and anti-anxiety meds & sleeping medication since 2005 (off and on). i moved home about 9 months ago (because of a variety of traumatic experiences) and have been unemployed since. i have been seeing a psychologist and psychiatrist regularly and just recently started to feel better. my dad just freaked out on me and said that i was just pretending and being lazy because i have been social on occasion and more so recently. being social was (and still is a little bit) hard for me but i know it makes me feel better so i have been really pushing myself. my dad is an extremely smart man (an MD- does cancer research) but does not really believe a lot of psychology (calls it a "soft science"). we are at the point where i am not speaking with him, because he said some really awful things to me (that i am not making the world a better place, that i am not making a difference in anyone's lives- including my own, that i have been "playing him and my mom", that i have basically been manipulative and that i am a bad person). this has all caused a lot of drama within my family and i hate it. i have tried talking to him (losing battle- he is always right), sending him literature (doesn't buy it), having others talk to him, etc. i do not know what to do!