I always thought my childhood had a large part to play in my depression, my psychiatrist seems to think along the same lines. My parents were quite suppressive while I grew up in the sense that I wasn't permitted to do things that other children my age did, especially having a girlfriend. I also had a very low self esteem in my teen years. Now that I am an adult I find it difficult to communicate with the opposite sex, I still have never had a girlfriend and i'm 24 years old. Is there anything I can do to help my situation? Will I end up being alone all my life because of being emotionally abused in my childhood. I call it abuse because I never progressed in my interpersonal capacity and if I did I was made to feel so bad, like I had sinned.