[Ozymandias]

Hi! I really really need some advice so I'm sorry this is so long but I appreciate your help in advance.

OK, so I've suspected I might be depressed for a while now, but I've always brushed it off. I knew about the symptoms of depression and I never felt like I met the criteria, so I ignored it and figured that maybe it was not a big deal. Recently I've learned about atypical depression, and I'm pretty sure I suffer from that. When I read the list of symptoms I was sort of blown away by how much I recognized myself in them... I annotated a list of symptoms below...

• A tendency to overeat, often with subsequent weight gain -- I definitely eat a lot; eating has sort of become my default setting. I have a really fast metabolism so there hasn't been much noticeable weight gain, though.
• A tendency to oversleep -- I sleep really late on weekends, sometimes until 2pm. Weekdays are different because of school, obviously, but I'd rather sleep then, too. I'm basically always tired.
• There can be mood reactivity. Mood reactivity means that a person’s mood may get better or worse as a result of a specific event or environmental change. People with atypical depression may experience a deep and persistent sadness, but will experience mood reactivity much more than people with more classic forms of depression. -- I have positive spells sometimes that lift my mood for a day or two, like when I have a really good day with friends or something. I thought depression had to be really debilitating, which is why I doubted that I was "actually depressed".
• A more intense reaction or increased sensitivity to rejection, which can sometimes affect social and work relationships -- This is 100% me. I'm hypercritical of my actions and appearance, and if someone so much as looks at me weird I obsess over it for the rest of the day. I take everything personally even when I know I shouldn't, and I have trouble taking constructive criticism for this reason. I have a constant and persistent feeling that pretty much everyone thinks I'm lazy, or weird, or annoying. RATIONALLY I know this isn't true, but I still feel that way and have pretty consistent anxiety because of it (but I've never really told anyone). I had no idea that this could be a symptom of depression before.
• Having feelings of being weighed down or put upon in a way that makes it difficult to motivate to do things -- I do find it difficult to motivate myself to do things. Once I start tasks I can complete them with few problems, but I'm reaaaaally bad at starting tasks. Sometimes I feel like I physically can't stop procrastinating.
• Some people with atypical depression will also experience some level of anxiety -- On "bad" days I'm usually anxious... see the above bullets.

The online consensus is have to persist for about 2 years for it to be considered atypical depression; I've definitely been feeling this way for 7 or 8 months, probably longer.

My question is, how do I tell my parents? My symptoms are mostly internal emotional things they wouldn't know about/notice, and I'm able to "cheer up" in the right social environments... basically, I don't *seem* depressed. I don't know how to tell them I need help without all of this seeming really, really out of the blue, you know? Furthermore, how do I ever go about it? What do I say? "Hey, I know seem okay and I could probably function without treatment, but I think I'm depressed"?

I've considered just bringing it up with my doctor at my next check-up while my parents are out of the room, but would it be bad to go behind their backs like that? And what do I say to my doctor?!

How do I go about seeking help for this non-debilitating depression?