I'm an optimist, as well as a capitalist. So what I love about computing is the ability to make a lot of money from the comfort of my own home by, essentially,

I'm an optimist, as well as a capitalist. So what I love about computing is the ability to make a lot of money from the comfort of my own home by, essentially, distilling my own thoughts into an artifact other people will pay to use. That's just about the closest thing to magic I can imagine a human being having. >Do I need to fix my depression before I fix my outlook on computers, or can I work on both at the same time? Both at the same time, bit by bit. Absent any other issues I would actually guess the family/relationship one-two punch is the real thing dragging you down more than work itself. Unfortunately those kinds of situations are almost impossible for outsiders to help with, so I won't pretend to know what to do there.