One thing to highlight: there's no "beating" depression--setting that as the goal will be discouraging. But as you alluded to, there are ways to cope, and to ma

One thing to highlight: there's no "beating" depression--setting that as the goal will be discouraging. But as you alluded to, there are ways to cope, and to manage it, and to live a good + fulfilling life in spite of the depression. I've had great luck with antidepressants. They don't "solve" the problem, but they give me a bit more space to operate and work on my mental health. As others have said, symptoms of SSRIs can be managed. Mindfulness meditation--clearing your thoughts and focusing on breathing--for 15min a day can feel transformative after a couple months. I've fallen off that, but I'd like to pick it back up. There's lots of little things that can contribute to better mental health. Meditation, exercise, diet, sleep: all are factors. But it's not worth suffering through, and it's worth giving medication a shot (in my opinion). Medication is not a commitment for life, it's an experiment to see if you can find something to help your symptoms. I do _highly_ recommend sustaining a therapy relationship, and simultaneously working with a psychiatrist. I haven't found therapy very transformative, and it certainly hasn't solved my problems. But it does give me some support, and that's yet another helpful factor in getting by.