Ask HN: Beating depression with or without anti-depressants?
&gt; For these reasons I am completely shit-scared of them. I see them as my option of last resort but increasingly I feel my options running out.<p>I was in the same boat.<p>Don&#x27;t listen to the haters. Anti-depressants are amazing. Most of the people who &#x27;cured&#x27; their depression through some kind of cheap trick turn out to have been self-diagnosed.<p>Anti-depressants, if dosed and chosen properly, have basically no side effects. The only change is you get to experience life like neurotypical people. So like, exercise is fun, not a form of torture. Emotions are OK, not the harbringers of the apocalypse.<p>Living with depression is awful, and it almost never goes away. It&#x27;s also extremely dangerous. Look at the stats: depression is a dangerous medical condition. Anybody telling you to take some herb or read a book is on the level of the people who prescribe smoothies to cancer patients. Get medical advice. Take drugs if they are prescribed. Depression massively increases your risk of death from all causes. Anti-depressants have like, a slight chance of causing dry skin.