Depression in Finance

Start with seeking professional help. It's a high stress, high pressure, results driven and very demanding career path, you'd be surprised at how many of us have issues and frequent therapists. It's honestly life changing. The right mental health professional will work with you to come up with a path that works best for you. Sometimes it's medication, sometimes its not. But as with any physical issues, step one is getting professional help.

Hang in there man, it's never easy to deal.

I would let the doctors do a proper diagnosis.  For context, I worked in a Hospital Emergency Room in SoCal for a number of years assisting the social workers, doctors on psychiatric holds/treatments of patients.  You learn a thing or two when you're with the team understanding the nuisances of diagnosis/treatment plans.

***If you feel a strong sense of anxiety or depression (or an extreme form), do not hesitate to go the Emergency Room ASAP or call the psychiatric hotlines.  What they can do is place you on a hold (1799) which is a 24 hour hold, or 5150 (72 hour hold), so that you can get some form of treatment or they would make sure you do not harm yourself/others.***

Now, contact your provider (insurance), about seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist.  They will provide you an assessment (generally speaking, each practice varies), and do a run down on questions regarding your past, current information.  For many people, it is simply the unfortunate events of genetics.  A brain scan can share a lot with what is going on in someone's mind, too.  At this point, medication will help fix it.  If it is emotional or something psychological, then they will provide a medication management or therapy treatment called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.  

I'd avoid the ones that takes only cash without insurance.  These treatments are expensive, and I know from experience that the care provided may not be the best ones too.  Good luck.  

SSRI's do not impact performance if anything having one has helped me tremendously. I think the main side affects you would watch for are sexual if you have any at all. But no they will not impact job performance negatively in any way. If you take an SSRI though id recommend trying to get off of it  once you get to a better place, i think most people take it 6 months to a year. I can tell you more, I currently am taking one. 

I wouldn't jump to medication, especially if the cause of your depression is circumstantial (i.e. due to the stress of the job).

2nd yr IB analyst w/ experience on SSRIs/mental health stuff, pm me if you wanna talk more in depth!

High finance is a cesspool of mental health issues. I've had an anxiety attack as I was emailing an IC paper, generally raised anxiety levels, depression to the point where I wouldn't shower for days or get out of bed. Managed to mostly evade medication so far. My two cents would be go to a mental health professional. If your symptoms are physically not abating (like elevated heart rate for days), atleast temporary medication is needed. Do not care about how it will affect you if you're at this point because otherwise you will get a heart attack. If it's not like this, you and your therapist can find the best way forward. I feel talking, journaling, meditating all help. Writing goals down and ticking them off (even if one thing at a time) really helped me. Here to talk if you want to!