A bit off-topic maybe, but I think it's worth saying that St. John's Wort, 5-htp, & L-tyrosine are all effective with depression, and are all available over the counter.
Depression is serious stuff. Left unchecked, it can even kill you. Yeah, arguably the best course of helpful action is therapy & medication, and they are most effective when done concurrently. The thing is, seeking help for depression can be a catch-22 — one day you may find yourself in a state of mind that you don't want to jump through all the hoops to do anything about it at all. At like 6$ for about a month’s worth, St. John’s Wort is dirt cheap and is as effective as any SSRI. (Prozac, Paxil, etc..) 5-htp & L-tyrosine are also reputed to be quite good. The usual disclaimers apply of course… first google/wiki anything you might want to try to see if it’s right for you. And it should be noted that while the choice to take antidepressants could be life-saving, in the long run, there is no pill at any cost that has ever been made that can “cure” depression. Time after time I’ve seen people take drugs that make them feel better for a time. Then they say the drug “stopped working” so they get on something else which also works for a little while, and then the cycle repeats again and again, sometimes for many many years. If you are in the hole of depression, taking something can give you the temporary strength to get out of that hole for a little while. Which can be a fantastic breakthrough in itself — maybe you had once felt so despondent that it was very hard just to get out of bed, and now you have much more energy with hope returning again, just because you spent a lousy $6 bucks on yourself. Great. But if you are prone to depression, chances are — contrary to that popular theraputic line from ‘Good Will Hunting’ — it actually is ‘your fault.’ Your depression is likely just a sign that you need to change your thoughts or behavior, and that you won’t actually ‘get better’ until you take the path to ‘live better.’ Or more simply put.. Autobiography in Five Short Chaptersby Portia Nelson I:
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…
I am helpless.
It is not my fault.
It takes forever to find my way out. II:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out. III:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in…It’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately. IV:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it. V:
I walk down another street. At times, true personal accountability (self-acceptance, forgiveness, etc) may seem to take super-human strength, but in the long run it’s always easier than the unsuccessful battles waged against taking responsibility for your own actions, the actions that likely got you in that hole to begin with. Or put another way: Morpheus to Neo: “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” So which pill do you take? Any successful anti-depressant is ultimately just the blue pill if all you are after is just to feel better at that moment and nothing else. It’s red if you use it to walk the path that wakes you up to doing something considerably better with your life. … Ok, I rambled there for while obviously, but related to this program I just think that there’s a hellava lot more to the topic of medication for depression than just “what should be prescribed?”, “what pill for what symptoms?”, or “so what pill ‘cures’ the depression?” If you are still reading, 😉 that’s all I have to say. (sean from ppcwarez)