Stop Being Depressed Without Medication
If you want to stop being depressed without medication, it will take some work. Essential life changes may be necessary. After all, you can’t keep doing the same things while expecting different results.
Before reading, please understand the following:
- This is a taboo topic, because many people feel they need or want medication to manage their depression. If medication is helping you, I am happy for that.
- However, this article is meant to shed light on the fact that antidepressants are overprescribed, and not everyone needs medication to manage depression. There are other ways. Evidence and examples will be provided.
- Nothing in this article is meant to be taken as direct medical advice to you. I am not a doctor.
My Friend Krissy
I’ve had a strong fascination with depression management sans medication since I was about 11 years old. My friend, let’s call her Krissy, had a tacklebox stocked with pills for bipolar disorder, depression, and psychotic behavior. She claimed she desperately needed each drug to keep her “normal” and insisted that she had a chemical imbalance that prevented her from being happy without the pills.
Unfortunately, Krissy didn’t seem happy and would still complain about being depressed often.
“Let’s go outside, and do something fun!” I’d offer.
“You don’t understand!” Krissy would wail. “I’m depressed.”
“Ok. Do you want to play video games?”
“No! I’m depressed!”
She was right. I didn’t understand. If the pills made her happy, then why was she still depressed, and why was she completely unwilling to even try to have fun?
One time, Krissy told me that I needed to be on drugs.
Shocked, I asked her, “Why?”
“You’re depressed!” She said.
“Krissy, I’m sad. I’m sad often, but I have good reason to be. My parents are alcoholics, they scream at each other every night, and my dad is cheating on my mom. Wouldn’t it be more troubling if I wasn’t sad? Being sad when life is shitty is completely normal, but I still want to go outside and have fun. So, can we? Please?“
Krissy attempted suicide despite all the drugs she was taking. As a middle school kid, I was horrified and more confused than ever. “What good are the pills doing if she keeps getting worse?” I wondered.
Our friendship disintegrated over the years, but I’ve always been curious how she has been doing after all this time. A high school acquaintance told me she finally quit taking her medication and seemed a lot happier. I hope this is true.
My Friend Alexis
My friend Alexis recently posted on social media that she is living her best life and has been successfully managing depression without medication for a long time now.
I don’t go around prying into people’s business about their health habits, but when someone is open about their story, I’m here to listen and spread the word. Alexis was kind enough to let me interview her.
Origins Of Depression
Alexis recalls the origins of her depression to have stemmed from having to grow up too quickly. Like most of us, she wasn’t taught healthy emotional maintenance and healing techniques. Therefore, as a teen, she didn’t understand that grief, depression, and hard times are all natural consequences of being alive.
Like so many of us have done, Alexis would seek a quick fix for her pain in the form of drugs or toxic relationships. Unfortunately, quick fixes only provide a numbing effect with no real resolution. As we all know, it is ultimately a self-destructive path, and it lead Alexis into a darker mental state than before. A downward spiral formed when she began to shame and judge herself for her inability to handle life’s challenges in a healthier way.
Her sense of despair was magnified by each new obstacle that life tossed her way.
Alexis Tried Medication To Stop Depression
Since her mother was not a fan of antidepressants, Alexis had to wait until she was 18 years old to try them. The results were less than ideal. They were horrific.
Antidepressants made Alexis crave the worst possible foods for her body, and she became a shell of a person. The pills pushed her into a deeper depression than she had ever experienced, and that’s when the suicidal thoughts crept in.
It wasn’t long before the thoughts were put into action. Sadly, Alexis tried to kill herself multiple times. After 2 years of being on antidepressants with disastrous results, she decided there was no harm in quitting the medication.
Alexis Improved When She Quit Taking Medication
Alexis improved when she quit taking medication. With the help of a guru, she experienced a major shift in perspective. The guru advised her, “Make fear your fuel, and you cannot fail. It’s impossible to, because we never run out of fear.” Alexis knew she never wanted to feel as horrible as she did when she was on medication, but she also knew that she needed to learn healthy ways to cope with depression.
How Alexis Copes With Depression Now
If you’ve made it this far, you’ve got to be wondering how Alexis copes with depression now. In her own words, “Since I stopped taking antidepressants, I have found alternative ways to experience my highest healing in the cleanest way possible for my bodies’ well-being. I am able to focus my mental energy on awareness and mindful evolution instead of staying willfully in my suffering.”
Alexis now has control over junk food cravings and is able to make better nutritional choices which has helped her not only feel better physically but also feel better about her body image.
As far as techniques go, Alexis has developed a list of daily non-negotiables that keep her mental state in harmony. She says if she ever starts to feel down, all she has to do is go to her list. The list is, in her own words:
- Nine minutes of body movement
- Nine minutes of mindfulness in her head
- Nine minutes of worshiping the divine god within her, which takes shape in the form of a breathing exercise and time spent empathizing with her inner child
She describes these methods to be as effective as they are simple, and says she now has the clarity to see that even though life throws significant hardships and challenges our way, it is still worth living!
Are Antidepressants Overprescribed?
According to an article called Inappropriate Prescribing by the American Psychological Association, “The use of psychotropic drugs by adult Americans increased 22 percent from 2001 to 2010, with one in five adults now taking at least one psychotropic medication, according to industry data. In 2010, Americans spent more than 16 billion on antipsychotics, 11 billion on antidepressants, and 7 billion for drugs to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).”
The article goes on to report that since Prozac was released into the public in 1987, “antidepressant use has quadrupled in the United States, and more than 1 in 10 Americans now takes antidepressants, according to the CDC.”
Mark Olfson, MD, and professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University conducted a study of more than 50,000 medical surveys that showed only one-fifth of patients taking antidepressants were also receiving therapy in 2005.
Olfson says that antidepressants are indeed overprescribed and that “many people with mild depression are prescribed antidepressants even though they aren’t likely to benefit from the drugs.”
Are Antidepressants Effective?
Antidepressants may be useful for some people, but as we learned from Kassi and Alexi’s stories, they are not always effective.
In a 2008 study lead by Irving Kirsch, PhD, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, it was found that, “An analysis of all FDA clinical trials for four SSRI antidepressants found that the drugs didn’t perform significantly better than placebos in treating mild or moderate depression, and the benefits of the drugs were ‘relatively small even for severely depressed patients.'”
How Is A Chemical Imbalance Diagnosed?
If you are wondering how a chemical imbalance is diagnosed, prepare to be unimpressed.
My friend Alexis said her doctor informed her that she had a chemical imbalance in her brain despite the fact that not a single test was conducted to prove it. She was simply written a prescription for antidepressants without any testing.
But, would testing have done any good anyway?
According to a medically reviewed article in Healthline called, Chemical Imbalance in the Brain: What You Should Know, “There are no reliable tests to diagnose a chemical imbalance in the brain. Doctors can perform tests to assess the levels of serotonin and other chemicals in your blood. however, this is not an accurate representation of the amount of these present in your brain.”
How To Stop Being Depressed Without Medication
I’ve spent a good amount of this article speaking negatively about antidepressant medication. However, I don’t want to point out a problem without providing some solutions. If you would like to stop being depressed without medication, here are some quick tips:
- Exercise daily
- Stretch daily
- Get good sleep
- Take rest breaks / recreational breaks
- Do something fun and exciting
- Eat healthy
- Find your purpose
- Set goals
- Spend time outdoors
- Hire a life coach or therapist
- Retrain your brain towards positive thinking. This takes time, but is achievable.
- Count 3 things to be grateful for daily
- Avoid alcohol and other drugs
My Story
I’ve talked about Krissy and Alexi’s stories, but what about me? I can’t say that I’ve ever labeled myself as depressed even during the worst times of my life. (And, yes, my life has been tainted with horrific times. Read Childhood Trauma Causes Lasting Codependency.)
However, if I skip out for too long on any of the tips listed above, I will think, feel, and behave exactly like a clinically depressed person! If I skip exercise for more than a week, my entire world view takes a dive. Exercise immediately catapults me back out of the sad mental abyss. There is a scientific explanation for this phenomenon that I will explain in next week’s post!
When everything and everyone seems to fail me, I have myself and my depression management techniques to count on. They don’t always make everything better, but they provide me with the mental stamina and clarity to move forward in a positive direction with a positive attitude.
You Don't Need Motivation
This list may sound like a chore, and you may have no intention of applying a single tip on it. I cannot force you to do anything.
But, before you go, I have one more thing to say that hopefully won’t rub you the wrong way: you don’t need motivation. You need discipline. Motivation is fleeting and emotional. If you wait for motivation, you may be waiting forever. Do we brush our teeth because we want to? Usually, no. We tend to brush our teeth, because it is something we know we have to do in order to achieve the desired results; fresh breath, healthy mouth, and an attractive smile.
The same is true for mental health maintenance.
I’ve always had this philosophy hard wired into my brain, but never had an easy time articulating it, until I recently read a fascinating article by health and fitness writer, Emilina Lomas, that goes into great detail about the differences between motivation and self-discipline.
If you use self-discipline to ensure you are going through the motions of managing depression, you are likely to see positive results. I’m not going to say anything will get easier, because I don’t think life is supposed to be easy. Nature provides daily examples of that. The struggle is real. However, the actions become a part of your routine over time, and once you start to reap the benefits of your new routine, you’ll never want to let it go.
Everyone should at least try the above tips before they resign themselves to the chemical imbalance philosophy. Why? Because, there is no harm in trying. And, if you get something positive out of just one of the tips, then you’ve still gained something.
Please join me next week as I dive into the tips listed above in great detail and provide evidence for how these natural depression management techniques may help you!
Thanks for reading!
Sources:
- Smith, Brendan L. “Inappropriate Prescribing,” American Psychological Association, June 2012, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/06/prescribing
- Cafasso, Jacquelyn, “Chemical Imbalance in the Brain: What You Should Know,” April 18, 2023 https://www.healthline.com/health/chemical-imbalance-in-the-brain#tests
- Lomas, Emilina, “Here’s How Deontological Ethics Will Make You Never Miss A Workout Again: Duty vs. Emotion,” May 2023 https://medium.com/better-humans/heres-how-deontological-ethics-will-make-you-never-miss-a-workout-again-duty-vs-emotion-cd7c78bf84ad