To try and beat depression without medication?

That's correct. There's also been a review of the data which suggested that >90% of people on SSRIs had no more than the placebo effect and they also had to manage side effects. Sugar pills would have been a healthier prescription.

It's a good idea to try lifestyle and dietary changes and things like CBT and meditation before using meds.

I suffered PND and managed to recover without medication although I did try a few. They didn’t work for me.

Healthy living, home cooked food, regular meals, exercise, activities that give you pleasure, be outdoors as much as possible in nature, so gardening whether outdoors or pot plant indoors.

Connect with people. Be loving.

Get out of the house every day. Have a mission, even if its ‘get milk’.

Baby steps… some days you achieve a couple of small things (a shower, make a sandwich at home) other days you do more. Be kind to yourself.

Try to build habits that will last.

I agree with this.

Also Op it depends on the person and the diagnosis and the severity and the contributing factors for each person ..

It can be done though and I do feel that on MN there is overwhelming encouragement toward medication which is not always appropriate or helpful.

you have to do what’s right for you.

I was diagnosed with depression two weeks ago and prescribed sertraline. I am a mom of three kids and want to feel better so badly. I watched the panorama doc and am a bit spooked now and will meet my dr again before taking them.

Because the sideeffects can be intense and not everyone feels better on them. Some people end up permanently chemically castrated after using them, my dr did not tell me this. For most people it is also very difficult to get off them apparently, with a long period of tapering down and bad withdrawal symptoms.

I am not against taking them and I know they are lifesavers for some, but I wish my dr would have told me about all of this. So glad to read a lot of positive experiences here.. I am suffering from health anxiety as well and starting the meds is a big step for me.

But depression 10000% does have a impact on someone’s usual personality and with depression it’s a very wide spectrum.

I’m sorry you’ve had such a bad experience with depression and that you found medication worked for you. But as a PP said, not everyone is the same and people experience mental health issues in a myriad of different ways. It’s a very complex subject, with a huge number of possible causes and every case is different.
People are giving the OP some good advice here. Nobody is saying it’s going to be easy to stick to that advice. One of the hardest things in the world is trying to look after yourself when you’re in the throws of depression. Whatever anyone finds that works for them, be it medication or not, is a positive thing.

The same. I didn't choose not take them. I was missed in the system and got through it 😔

I had unmedicated PND, not because I didn’t want treatment, but because it was so bloody hard to access in the depths of covid with a newborn and toddler.

Things I did were:

• regular exercise and generally sticking to a routine
• being outside as much as possible
• giving up sugar (apart from in fruit sometimes)

It was a bloody awful time but it is possible.

Don't make the mistake of thinking your experience with depression is the only legitimate reaction. I think anti depressants can be amazing at the right time. But they aren't always the only way.

I was going to mention the Panorama documentary about anti depressants and a possible placebo effect. I haven’t watched it myself yet.

Give me a break. You obviously don't have experience with real depression if you think it's that easy. I spent 20 years trying naturally, but I already had a great life with good relationships and I exercised frequently. Medication was the only thing that helped save my life and your comment is like so many others that dismisses those who can't get better without intervention.

It may also be worth watching the new panorama documentary on antidepressants on BBC.

If you're serious about not taking meds you have to be very strict on exercise, mindfulness, meditation, no alcohol and finding ways to trigger your own serotonin and dopamine levels.

I found exercise and talking therapy has helped massively.

BPD is a serious personality and mental health disorder.

This is not the same as depression or feelings of hopelessness.

I tried for about 20 years. I was adamant I didn't want to take pills. I spent 20 years having bad spells of depression and feelings of suicide. I finally gave in and it is life changing. I will never go off them if I have a choice in it.

exercise helps massively

Daft analogy.

Of course you can. For mild to moderate depression anyway.

I assumed you couldn't. CBT only helps a bit. Can you address the core issues, of what makes someone depressed? I doubt it.

Totally doable. Time, reflection, being honest with the way you live your life, sorting out shit relationships, firming up your boundaries and taking stock of every thing basically.

Exercise optional. Can give you a bit of an immediate life but long term look within, journaling can be helpful. Being in nature etc.

Anti depressant Medication, Venlafaxine in particular, saved my life. The chemicals in my brain are not right without long term medication.

Please don’t try my husband did this and put us all through literal hell he has bpd and it was absolutely exhausting!!! And scary! Nothing he said made sense during a “episode”.

If you don’t have immediate family kids partner? You have to work with others instead of remotley etc and your alone a fair bit then I’d say try it if yours is mild depression then by all means try! But absolutely take it far more seriously if people are close and around you a lot and have to tell you your behaviour is not ok! Take heed and do something drastic! Medication!

As well as good self care, what helped me was reconnecting with something I used to be passionate about.

When I was in the midst of depression it was so difficult to remember anything positive like that, but I had a vague recollection of really loving colouring in as a child, so…I bought myself the biggest box of coloured pencils I could find and committed to spending 5 minutes doing something creative every day.

Slowly but surely, I started to feel a tiny bit of that joy I used to have as a child come back to me and recovery started from there. It’s now almost a decade later and I’m still depression free and creating shitty art that makes me feel good 😊

There's situational depression and there's
(?hormonal) depression regardless of any situation - positive or negative.

I don't think you can beat the latter without medication of some sort. While the former doesn't really need medication but a change of the situation that's causing or triggering the illness, medication is like a bandaid in that case or some type of placebo effect. You can beat that without medication.