Can you treat depression without antidepressants?

[SinkGirl]

DH and I have both suffered from depression on and off since our teens and have both taken antidepressants at various points. We have had a very difficult couple of years and it has taken its toll on our mental health - a few months ago we were both started on sertraline. We both really struggled with the side effects and felt we didn’t really need them - DH stopped after about 5-6 weeks, I stopped after a couple of months and I’ve been doing absolutely fine without them. A short while after I stopped, he read an article about the longterm risks of SSRIs and said he didn’t want to take them again and was glad he didn’t need to.

Things have gotten much better recently for a lot of reasons I won’t go into but life is going as well as it can be and better than it has for a long time, and yet DH is struggling again.

He doesn’t want to take the anti-depressants, but he is having a really tough time.

I know from reading up on this before that certain supplements can help some people (st johns wort, omega 3, folic acid if you have a folate deficiency). I found out last year that I had a severe vitamin D deficiency and since my levels went up I feel much better mentally - I suspect he’s deficient too as he works from home, at a computer all day every day.

Has anyone managed to treat depression without antidepressants? I’m generally opposed to all things woo, so not so much that stuff, but I know that vitamin and mineral deficiencies etc can have a huge impact on physical and mental health.

Has anyone had any success? His depression isn’t severe, he’s not suicidal or considering harming himself in any way - he just feels very low and like he can’t handle basic every day things which is exactly what I get like when I’m depressed.

The no antidepressants option achieved nothing for me unfortunately. Denying I needed them made it worse

Has he checked whether all of his vitamin & mineral levels are correct? If not, I'd start with blood tests, and then supplements for anything that might be low.

If bloods are all clear, then these things can help with depression:

• exercise
• meditation
• counselling
• CBT
• lemon balm
• focusing on a healthy diet.

Personally, what worked for me after years of depression - my whole adult life till I was 35 - was medication and counselling, with the latter being the most important. Finding the perfect counsellor last year really helped and I now feel the best I ever have as an adult.

Sure, I had therapy. I was depressed as a reaction to negative self image/ relationship difficulties. Therapy healed me.

Yes definitely. Different things work for different people.

Therapy can be so helpful- you have to find the right therapist for you though.

Exercise really helps some people.

Thank you everyone. I personally have had a lot of therapy over the years with mixed results.

I am not trying to detract from the fact that some people absolutely need antidepressants, and there’s of course nothing wrong with needing them, just like any other medication. He really has never tried anything else though, so I think he’s keen to explore alternatives to see if they help. I’ve already said that he should restart them if things get worse - at the moment it’s manageable. I will get him a vitamin and mineral test sorted.

Hi,
Like you I've found vitamin D supplementation really helped my moods but it still didn't completely alleviate depression.. I'm exploring the possibility of probiotics/kefir which seems fairly promising - I've only recently started looking into it and even in the realms of medical research, it's a fairly new avenue so annoyingly tailoring bacterial species which will be beneficial for each ailment/checking what bacteria deficiency we have is not fully established yet but might be worth trying a probiotic / kefir and seeing how it goes after e.g. 2 weeks or so.. keep me updated on what you find if you do try it ! :)

I’d recommend you read “food is better medicine than drugs” by Patrick Holford. It’s got a chapter about depression.

When I was at my lowest point, I started taking niacin supplements. It worked amazingly well for me. Do recommend using the no flush niacin though. Good luck

Thanks so much everyone. I used to be so ignorant when it came to this stuff - I thought, if you’re sick, you take the pills you’re given and then you get better. Then I developed other health issues that are severely under-researched and I realised that some things just aren’t figured out at all yet. I know I’ve been handed antidepressants when I haven’t been depressed - at a few points they’ve been absolutely crucial to me, but at others I definitely didn’t need them.

For example, there’s some recent studies showing that maternal vit D deficiency during pregnancy could contribute to the development of ASD - I was severely deficient and both my twins have ASD. Is it a coincidence? I don’t know. If folate deficiency can cause neural tube defects, I don’t see why not, but as with many things I things are still inconclusive. If it’s conclusively found to be unrelated then great but in the meantime myself and my boys are getting high dose vitamin D plus cofactors and it seems to be doing them a lot of good.

I’ll keep you posted as I do some more research and we both try things out. I did see a product recommended recently, will try to find it.

he works from home, at a computer all day every day.

Would he benefit from more human interaction? Could he go for a walk at lunchtime (benefit of fresh air and exercise) and get his lunch in a pub or cafe and chat to people? Or even just take sandwiches to the park? Even doing that 2-3 times a week might help.

I’m at home with the kids so he sees us a lot, but yes - I think home working is really unhealthy longterm and he’s been doing it a long time.

As far as I aware , counselling/ psychological therapies are at least as effective as medicines but are less available and take longer. Even if you take meds , talking therapies are still very useful . Presuming he is eating a varied diet, exercising and having vitamin D supplements I would think organising talking therapy is a good idea. He should discuss with his GP to find out what is available to him, there is no easy solution either way but it can be empowering to take control by going down the psychology route.

I makes me do angry that we have practically cured AIDs and. Vastly improved cancer survival with all the money and research but mental health drugs are shit ! My friend went on one anti depressants where the common side effect was an overwhelming sense of hopelessness ffs!!! Absolutely deadly
Exercise had had very powerful effects on a lot of people I know and eating a good therapist if necessary, radical stuff like changing or re training in a job you really want to do
All the best

*getting a good therapist - eat one only at a last resort!

I take a high dose of vitamin D and my overall mood is the best it's ever been. In the past I've also found work (if low stress), regular exercise and eating healthily have been beneficial. I also think taking therapy is really good although I haven't done this myself.

I agree with flower - different things work for different people. I was suicidal in the past and found counselling to be useless - they just seemed to wind me up and sit and let me sob for my allocated time. I never tried drugs because I was afraid of them (not sure why, I was abusing sedatives at the time, but there was a lot less information and support available for mental health then).
What did work for me was exercise and having a diary which I HAD TO have some activity in every single day. It had to get me out of the house so a gym class or pub quiz would do it, having a friend over wouldn't unless we went for a walk or similar. Even now over ten years later I would say I'm very reliant on those strategies - the last time I had a whole day without leaving the house was in 2008 when I was in the middle of it. When people talk about lazy days at home where they stay in their pyjamas I don't get it, for me that's a risk to my mental health so it holds no appeal. And if I'm upset/stressed/whatever the first thing my family do is send me out for a run.
Lots of my friends have used exercise successfully in this way. Sometimes life changes have helped such as moving job. Other friends like meditation. But equally the meds and counselling work for a great number of people so should be considered alongside everything else.

I’ve been having CBT
I don’t think it’s worked in the slightest,...yet I do feel better,I’m taking a good multi vit and I’m vegan..
Bizarrely my dogs help.they are so happy to see me ,it’s unconditional love.im getting fresh air because they need a walk.and I’m talking to people on the walk that l meet ,usually same place same time ,stop for a coffee and chat to same people about our dogs.
So all of that together,oh and a cleaner once a week ,has helped me

Holly whiskey,yes I agree ,mentally at my strongest I was in the gym every day..I, planning on going back ASAP.

Also I need to be out of the house every day too.a pj day for me spells mental disasters by bedtime,I can’t spend a day in.

I don't think 5 weeks is long enough to see wether that anti-depressant works for you.

It took 6 weeks on Citalopram for the side effects to disappear and I didn't start to feel better until about week 8/9. I

Unfortuately nothing worked for me except escitalopram - took about 9 weeks to kick in properly I think - I'd never ever come off it now - made massive difference to OCD which had controlled my life for the previous 30 years - hope you both find the answers you're looking for SinkGirl

Berocca used to help me enormously with low mood and lack of joy. I think that you’re right in thinking that mineral and vitamin deficiencies play a part in some types of depression. I used to take (actually still do) the tablet form every other day to keep me on an even keel.

In October last year, I lost my mum very suddenly and unexpectedly and struggled hugely. ADs have really helped me to manage day to day-I’m on Citalopram.

I think that anything you can do proactively will help, be it counselling, CBT, vitamins, or ADs... you just have to work out which at the time. I don’t intend to take ADs for much longer, but they have carried me through one of the most difficult times of my life. Berocca has helped me long term though.

Another vote for nutrition, along with exercise and a creative hobby.
I've just been on ads. I used them through a sticky patch. The only way off them is for me to make sustainable lifestyle changes.

Its quite old but Food and Mood handbook is good. Also another vote for Patrick Holford and Optimum Nutrition. Gut health is important- i get Lambert and Butler ProBiotics.

Thanks everyone, it’s really helpful to hear your experiences and perspectives.

I know 5 weeks isn’t really long enough - I think he just didn’t want to take them and didn’t feel he needed them enough to put up with the other effects (it’s always a balancing act isn’t it) that he generally gets every time he takes them.

He does struggle much more in winter (got him a SAD lamp) so I’m hoping that the improved weather and getting out of the house more often is going to help. Getting out is extremely difficult for us anyway - going out alone is tricky as leaving the other with disabled twin toddlers feels unfair (I would absolutely support him if it would help, but I struggle with guilt on the very rare occasions I do it). We’ve got a Homestart assessment tomorrow and I’m hoping we can make good use of the help they can offer, so we can take the boys out and he can have some peace, a chance to go out etc. He’s an awesome dad, neither of us have really had much of a chance to prioritise our own needs. Hopefully we can find some ways to make things better and avoid meds but if not then at least that’s an option for him.

I remember your posts, SinkGirl and we have some of the same problems. I'm glad you're doing a bit better.

I've read somewhere that taking a 20 minute walk every day has proved as effective as anti-depressants. Sorry I can't find a link! In some cases, the patient needs the anti-depressants to get to the stage where they can manage the walk

Food and nutrition are also important - you can google something like top 10 foods to eat to help depression and get a list. It includes avocados, nuts, oily fish and turmeric. It would be great if he can start adding some 'good' foods into his diet. Also, I always feel better with a strong multi vitamin that includes a good dose of B vitamins, plus extra vit D, B12, krill oil and L-tyrosine.

I think St John's wort is potentially very good - I think it's Germany where it's widely prescribed? I kind of know it works for an odd reason - I was taken off SSRIs because I suddenly developed a tremor, after many years of being fine on them. I stopped them (slowly), the tremor went. While looking for a substitute, my psych suggested I tryst John's Wort. I started taking it, started to feel better... and the tremor came back! So for me it worked the same as the SSRI! But obviously I had to stop because of the tremor.

I mention this a lot and I promise I don't work for them (!) - I'm now on Valdoxan as I've been banned from SSRIs/SNRIs because of the tremor. It's very mild and doesn't have the side effects of many other ADs. It acts mostly on melatonin and therefore helps with sleep. Could be worth a try if he wants to avoid the traditional ADs.

I'm in counselling as well, I feel the meds and counselling work together. I have a lot of medical conditions so it's ongoing as it's partly about dealing with chronic illness for me.