Title: I&#x27;m struggling with depression, and don&#x27;t know how to manage it.<p>Just to get my background out of the way :<p>I&#x27;m a programmer and have been severely under performing at work (to the point of almost being fired), and routinely question whether or not I deserve to be alive. As a result of my difficulties, I&#x27;ve begun seeing a therapist and psychiatrist. Both feel that I should be on anti depressants, and I am not opposed to this.<p>Short of medication, however, they haven&#x27;t really offered any strategies I can implement. Perhaps that will come later, but for now I was hoping to hear about what may have worked for others. All the logical advice (exercise, go to sleep on time, live a healthy lifestyle) are things that I struggle to find the motivation for. Perhaps the medication will help in that department. However, I&#x27;m concerned they will dull my focus (which is a bit silly, considering I can&#x27;t focus at all right now).<p>edit :<p>I am sincerely grateful for all the thoughts that have been shared. I&#x27;ve read every post in this thread. A few follow ups :<p>1. I understand the limitations of asking for advice about mental health online, and I want to reassure any&#x2F;everyone concerned that I will not make any treatment decisions without the input of the specialists I&#x27;m seeing.<p>2. Related to the above, reading about the (mostly successful &#x2F; positive) experience others have had with medication has been very reassuring. I did have some lingering skepticism about SSRI&#x27;s (which may or may not have come through in my original post), and I am very glad to hear that medication has worked well for others. Maybe it&#x27;s a bit silly to have an opinion partially validated by a peer group, but so it goes.<p>3. This is probably as emotional as I&#x27;ve been in weeks : reading through the responses here makes me feel like I&#x27;m not alone. Thank you, very, very much.
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