I am medicated and I honestly cannot survive in the world without being medicated. I tried to go off my meds for a long time because I just flat out didn't have the money for it and I struggled and made stupid decisions based off my mental status and it got me into a lot of trouble. If I have it my way, I will never go off my meds again.
I am also going through therapy. I have a kink friendly therapist. I don't see her often these days, but for awhile she was my absolute lifeline. The problem was, it took me a very long time to find her. You have to visit a lot of therapists to be able to find one that works. At least in my case.
I tried the "home remedy" route while I was off my meds. I know the St John's Wort worked for a friend and collegue of mine, but it didn't do jack for me. Excercise can help and all the home remedies can get you out of a funk, but if your brain chemistry is messed up like mine is, I need the meds when the depression gets clinical.
Therapy is overlooked a lot of the time because your primary care doctor can give you the meds and a lot of insurance doesn't cover mental health services, but they will cover antidepressants. So. It's cost prohibitive for a lot of people. I'm one of them. So I don't go as often as I would like to because I can't afford it.
Honestly, either your primary care or psych can prescribe them for you. Shrinks know more about the effects of the drug for specific conditions, but my PCP has made herself knowledgable because so many of her patients have mental health issues and she understands that counseling and psychiatry can be expensive.
My brain chemistry is what makes me dependent on the medication. There is always always ALWAYS the option to get off the meds or use them for a short time. Just always follow your doctor or pharmacist's instructions for getting off the meds so you don't screw yourself up. One of the meds I was on gave me serious hardcore brain zaps when I was weaning off so we adjusted my taper. When I started the new one, it was easy peasy. There are always options. It's just what you're willing to do, how much you can afford and what benefits outweigh the risks for you. There are some antidepressants that are far less risk of addiction than others. Clonazepam is a class 3 drug and regulated BECAUSE it has addictive properties. I only used that when I was suicidal and couldn't keep my snailpoop together or sleep or remember to eat. I was really bad. They do not have to give you that kind of medication and, honestly, I would suggest NOT starting with a controlled medication to begin.
Sorry. Pharm tech coming out to talk here.
My brain chemistry is f---ed. I know it is. The meds make me a functional human being and help control the obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions and make the depression basically non-existent. However, if you're on the wrong meds that, for whatever reason don't work for you, then you need to try something else. A different class of drug, one that will alleviate side effects and so forth. You have to have a good relationship with whomever is providing your care and know that they're genuinely interested in helping you get well and not just looking for another number. Finding that can be hard, too.
If you need help, get it. No one is going to make you tell anyone about it. And it's far less stigmatized than it was when I was first seeking help. The general public makes it sound like you have to be in a mental hospital and are a danger to society if you're on antidepressants which is completely the opposite for most of us.
I'm a big proponent of getting help rather it's talk therapy or meds or both or neither... whatever it is that is going to make you healthy and happy is what needs to happen and the only person who can make that change is beginning with you. The hardest part is looking at someone and saying "I can't do this I need help".