How can I beat depression without medication?

I'm in the same boat-- I feel something nasty coming on and I don't want to get back on Lexapro.. We can try emailing one another?? I've been exercising 5 days a week which helps me a great deal--I cannot wait till I get back to my regular routine. I've also been taking Vitamin D supplements (I read that helps with the mood) And I found 1 vitamin with fish-oil, flax seed, omega3's in it and my doctor says that all three help depression. I'm also in the process of finding a 'feelgood' book that I can keep my spirits up. Good luck! Oh and sometimes talking with someone helps (therapist).

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Keep up the exercise. Learn all you can about depression and its causes. Clinical depression can be a symptom of a more subtle disorder. I have had 8-10 different diagnoses since I first had problems with depression 28 years ago. Currently my GP who I've been with for 5 years thinks I may have adult add/hd. She has been treating me for this and my depression/anxiety has improved dramatically. Is this finally the right diagnosis? I don't know, but I do know I would have never gotten as far as I have without learning everything I could and pressing my doctors with questions and possibilities. It also helps if your doc knows you well. No one can sit you down and give you an accurate diagnosis for a mental disorder in 30-50 minutes, like is typically done. (unless they just get very lucky). Most of the time they will just make their best guess and treat you for that. All of this of course is just my experience.

One good word to learn is: perseverance. And as someone else said: helping others will help you. Don't put to much faith in the mental health system (cause it is pretty much useless). Only you can beat depression -maybe with or without the right medication, but either way it is going to take your strength and determination -no one can do it for you.

Also, there are better meds coming out all the time and a new look at some old ones. Check into NRI's, SNRI's and SSRE's. The only thing about meds is if you finally find one that helps it's great but once you take any of them for any length of time, you will find yourself chasing them for the rest of your life (again, my experience - in hindsight, I think I would have been better off had I never taken the first one)

I know I didn't exactly answer your question, because I'm looking for that same thing myself -just wanted to pass on some stuff that may help

My heart goes out to you. Just know there is hope and persevere.

No there is not a way to beat depression. Medication is a mood stabilizer. It is what you use to control depression. You cannot be healthy without that medication. Take it. As for your partner, I would say goodbye. Get your child support and move on. If he wants his freedom nothing you do or say is going to bring him back. If he does return to your life, then you have the problem of when will he leave the next time and the time after that. Talk to your doctor about medications and side effects like dependence. Talk to a lawyer about child support. Get your life going in the right direction and enjoy it.

I have major depression. I had trouble with many medications. Eventually I found an herbalist who was able to help me. She said that many disorders are caused by a lack of certain vitamins. In my case, organic Fish oil and Bcomplex did the trick. I take them twice a day. Do some research on that topic. Good luck.

here's the problem: clinical depression is not a mental illness, as such. it's a physical condition caused a chemical imbalance in the part of the brain that causes depression. your question is kind of like saying "how do i get over a broken leg without getting it set?" answer: you don't. i was diagnosed with clinical depression several years ago and i take prozac. i got lucky because the first pill the doctor tried worked. i have known of people who have to try several different anti depressants before they find the one that works. you are doing the equivalent of putting a band aid on an amputation. please, please, please go back to the doctor and start taking your meds again. depression doesn't just go away. it's a for life condition and there is a pill that will help you. look at it this way: if you had high blood pressure and the doctor gave you meds for that, you would take them, right. depression is the exact same thing. it's a physical condition.

Sorry, but you're probably going to need to take medication again. There are many drugs out there, and there is a very good chance something will help you without the side effects you had with Citalopram.

I've taken antidepressant/antianxiety medication since 1983; some things worked better than others. Paxil worked the best for me with minimal side effects.

I've tried to quit taking psychiatric meds several times over the years and always wound up needing to take them again.

Over the last five years I had begun to have increasingly withdraw into a downward spiral of depression..

But now with the method I can fully focus my energy and thoughts into a decisive line on how to make my life better constantly. And it works like magic! I'm beginning to attract people to me once again and things have just been looking up since then.

Helping you eliminate depression?

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Doing things that you like to do, develop hobbies, help others these are just a few ways to ward off depression.