Just to get my background out of the way :
I'm a programmer and have been severely under performing at work (to the point of almost being fired), and routinely question whether or not I deserve to be alive. As a result of my difficulties, I've begun seeing a therapist and psychiatrist. Both feel that I should be on anti depressants, and I am not opposed to this.
Short of medication, however, they haven't really offered any strategies I can implement. Perhaps that will come later, but for now I was hoping to hear about what may have worked for others. All the logical advice (exercise, go to sleep on time, live a healthy lifestyle) are things that I struggle to find the motivation for. Perhaps the medication will help in that department. However, I'm concerned they will dull my focus (which is a bit silly, considering I can't focus at all right now).
edit :
I am sincerely grateful for all the thoughts that have been shared. I've read every post in this thread. A few follow ups :
1. I understand the limitations of asking for advice about mental health online, and I want to reassure any/everyone concerned that I will not make any treatment decisions without the input of the specialists I'm seeing.
2. Related to the above, reading about the (mostly successful / positive) experience others have had with medication has been very reassuring. I did have some lingering skepticism about SSRI's (which may or may not have come through in my original post), and I am very glad to hear that medication has worked well for others. Maybe it's a bit silly to have an opinion partially validated by a peer group, but so it goes.
3. This is probably as emotional as I've been in weeks : reading through the responses here makes me feel like I'm not alone. Thank you, very, very much.