Puting a face to the name

I am just now starting to come out of a major depressive episode...What frustrates me the most is that no one around me truly understands what I am going through so I am left feeling isolated and ashamed.  If depression was understood like cancer or other physical ailments I think depression would be much easier to cope with.  I could call into work 'sick' or explain to my family and friends why I do not want to be dragged out of the house to socialize, and people would be sympathetic or understanding.  Instead I feel like I have to hide my depression, and thus myself from the world in order to make everyone else comfortable, including myself.  I have attempted to describe my depressive episodes to the people I am closest to but then I have to watch them as they struggle to fix me or make it go away.  The conundrum is I either feel like a burden and hurt other people or I isolate myself and distance myself from the people I care about.  So instead I have decided to write down my feelings in hopes that other people who can relate to me will not feel so isolated and ashamed.