Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?

a bunch of wiki-google-doctors that think they know more than the people who actually studied for at least a decade; get away while you can.

> These drugs are very powerful but have really bad side-effects for most people that take them.

This is bullshit. Antidepressants have mild side-effects for most people who take them. Some people have bad side effects and then they try a different one with a different side-effects profile and that usually helps. The only thing I have on Zoloft are annoying night sweats. Without it I was unable to function and had chronic anxiety and panic attacks.

> Is my utter terror of these drugs warranted or should I just bite the bullet and try them?

You said it yourself. You tried therapy, you tried all sorts of coping mechanisms and nothing helped. So yes, find a psychiatrist and talk to him about taking drugs.

There's absolutely nothing wrong about drugs. Some people need blood pressure medication their whole life; the brain is just another part of you that responds to medication.

It is a fact that the mechanism of almost all of these drugs are not completely understood, but fully understanding the mechanism of a drug is not a requirement for it to be therapeutic. Sometimes you just find that stuff works and then you spend a whole lot of time trying to understand why it does.

Look up things around the term “sleep hygiene” if you aren’t familiar with it. But if there is something physical going on then you’ll need more assistance.

If you’re going to take medications, probably work with a psychologist in conjunction with the psychiatrist to have the greatest effect. You can ask one to refer some names for the other. Talk with a few different ones for the first interview to find one that hopefully fits you better. Some doctors are better for some patients than others so find one that is a good match for you.

It’s a journey and takes exploration, iteration, and practice to make incremental improvements.

I like the Rick Hansen Foundations of Well-Being program. But it seems each person’s depression is different and what is helpful is also different.

Severe pain in testicles: ER doctor asks about blunt trauma, sees nothing, prescribes antibiotics. Family doctor later agrees. Year later, same pain! See a nurse-in-training, second question: "When was the last time you ejaculated?" ....oh... Sure enough, no antibiotics necessary.

Tapeworm-looking thing found wiping my bum: doctor ask about look and itchiness, consults a parasite specialist. They come back with pinworms, because tapeworms don't just come out. Prescribed a medicine that deals with both, and I look it up. I read the drug is perfectly safe, and also "do not use traditional remedies like pumpkin seeds, which contain trace amount of a substance that puts tapeworms to sleep" ...oh... I had just spent two days snacking through a 4 lbs. of pumpkin seeds on a nut-free whitewater trip, so it was a tapeworm.

Ball of foot hurts: Doctor stumped, sends to get orthotics. Orthotics get made custom. Years later, I try on a pair of EE wide shoes ...oh... right, wide shoes that makes sense.

Burning left side of face: wasted so much time with a few specialists, telling everybody that it doesn't really bother me I just want to be sure it's like a brain tumor. No answers from no body. Then one day, a bunch of wax falls out of left ear and ...oh... it clicks; my face burns when my ears get too full of all that wax I make.

So doctors don't always get the full picture either, because how could they surface every relevant detail in 5 minutes!

I wouldn't discount design advice of a qualified engineer because of the musings of a random person, so why would I do the same for a doctor.

Too many people in this thread are just going "software developers don't know what they're talking about. I had a bad experience with software once, so no developers have a clue, they're just after money"

They do reduce how much emotions you can feel, which helps you to do simple things like getting out of bed, cleaning the dishes, cleaning your room.

Combined with therapy, you can start to appreciate these improvements on your life style and eventually you can come off the anti depressants which healthy habits.

I've also been on anti anxiety medications before, and I recommend those also for similar reasons. It gives you just enough boost to be in situations that typically make you anxious, and that leads you to developing better relationships with those situations in future