Is depression just weakness? how do i deal with it? i always just "plowed through" (never medicated)but it doesn't go away, how do you make it go away

MDD is a disorder: Medical depressive disorder is a neurobiological disorder. There are many effective treatments for it. See your doctor for a thorough exam and recommendations for counseling and/or medications. Exercise is remarkably helpful in depression. Discuss this with your doctor as well.

Not a weakness: Major depressive disorder is not a weakness. It has been proven to run in families, so how can that be a weakness? It's been studied and found to be more common in identical twins when one has it, than in fraternal (non-identical) twins. How could that be a weakness? You have identified in your question, a big problem, which is the stigma of mental illnesses and that they're viewed as weaknesses.