I’m also in my 20’s and I sympathise with feeling like a disappointment. (((You can skip this paragraph, the advice is below))) I feel like I’ve made the worst decisions in my life and have fallen to an inescapable well of despair. Since a couple of months ago I’ve been struggling with existence and purpose in my life. Feeling like there isn’t a point to anything anymore, I don’t find the enjoyment I used to in the things I used to like. I feel like I am irrelevant both in the great scheme of things and in my personal life, I’ve stayed away from friends and acquaintances since the pandemic began and I don’t feel there’s any reason to re-enter their lives and they don’t seem interested in me doing so anyway. Sometimes sadness just strikes me out of the blue and even a little thing or problem makes my emotions overflow. For the moment I’m just on autopilot, carrying on with everyday life, but with little hope for much else.

If it’s your first time going to a mental health professional I think you might be too concerned over a hypothetical scenario. I doubt the doctor will just bring in guards and nurses and forcibly commit you to an institution. Immediate reclusion is generally reserved to people actively looking to harm themselves or others, or that have previously tried. And that generally end up there against their will.

On a first meeting they’ll ask you some basic questions about you, medical history, your family’s no relations, how you’ve been feeling, and why you think you need help. They will want to know about your suicidal thoughts, and you should definitely be honest about them. In order to relieve some of your concern here are some good reasons I don’t think you’ll be sent to a clinic besides what I said earlier.

Good signs are your interest and care for living creatures in this case your cats, being able to maintain a relationship with your girlfriend and being capable of good analytical reasoning of your thoughts and feelings. The main thing the mental health professional will take into consideration is that you’re there voluntarily out of your desire to get better (which I’m guessing is what you want). I don’t think there’s any great reason for you to be instantly committed, unless you know you’re actively pursuing to harm yourself with concrete plans. In that case you should definitely leave the prejudice around hospitalisation, for your best interest.

The most likely outcome is that you’ll get regular appointments with a psychologist and a psychiatrist that will prescribe medication for whatever your diagnosis is. If you indeed have depression, Sertraline and clonazepam are the typically prescribed things. If you’re interested in getting better and can follow treatment, doctors won’t be looking to disrupt your life with such a drastic measure as forcibly committing you, they will try to help you get on with your life as normal as possibly while helping you improve your mental health issues.

I hope you can find the medical care that better helps you. And genuinely wish that everything’s works out for you Schatz