Breaking Free: How to Cure Depression Without Meds

I know this is might be an unpopular opinion, but I’m going to say it anyway. If you aren’t exercising regularly, getting ample sunshine, and eating food that nourishes your body, you can’t call yourself depressed. There, I said it. If you’re still interested in how to cure depression without meds, keep reading, and I’ll tell you.

I had been on antidepressants in one form or another for most of my young adult life. If I wasn’t on “antidepressants,” I was self-medicating with alcohol, experimenting with drugs, or just participating in reckless living. Ignorance is bliss really defined most of my teenage years. 

It wasn’t until after my second suicide attempt that I was forced to be on medication for depression, anxiety…all the things. But if I’m being completely honest, all it did was numb me the same way alcohol or drugs numbed me. It didn’t “fix a chemical imbalance”; it made me not care. 

Turns out, there’s significant truth to Mark Manson’s whole ideation of “not giving a fuck”, and even the psychiatrists think so, cause they put it in pill form. I don’t mean that sarcastically. It’s true. I believe we take everything way too seriously. 

Isn’t that what anxiety is anyways-giving too many shits. And depression is the opposite-not giving enough shits. So the goal should be to learn how to give the right amount of shits to be happy. And there you have it, the key to living a life free of depression. Just kidding. 

I understand that there are circumstances where depression is real and there is a need for it to be taken seriously and when medication is necessary, but I stand firm in my belief that it is overdiagnosed and often confused with unhealthy coping mechanisms and a maladaptation to trauma. 

Variations in mood and emotions are normal. We don’t talk enough about how sadness, stress, and occasional feelings of hopelessness are part of the human experience. The current trend of pathologizing these emotions and prescribing medication as a one-size-fits-all solution may not always be the most appropriate approach.

Therefore curing depression without medication means that we need to actually work to get out from under our undesired feelings. The keyword here is “work”. There is a universal understanding of the hard work that goes into being physically healthy. We know it takes discipline with the food we consume, effort to stay moderate in our choices, and consistency in our workouts.  

However, for some reason, we as a society have bought into the idea that mental health is different, so we don’t have the conversation about the work that goes into being mentally healthy, emotionally mature, and free of chronic depression. 

I’m here to burst some bubbles, but it takes work. Being mentally sound and fighting depression isn’t for the weak. 

It means that when we don’t want to get out of bed, we do it anyway. When we want to drink alcohol to numb discomfort, we have water instead. When we don’t want to leave the house, we do it anyway. When we feel tired, we go for a walk in nature. When everything seems negative, we write down our blessings with gratitude. When we feel sorry for ourselves, we call a friend and ask them to go to dinner. When we feel worthless, we practice self-love. 

It isn’t easy. In fact, it’s incredibly difficult. But this is how you actually cure depression without meds. You decide not to go down that path again. It’s a choice, a decision, and a lifestyle I practice every day so diligently that nobody who knows me today would EVER know that I used to struggle with feeling so hopeless and worthless that I attempted to take my own life twice. 

You got this! 🫶🏻