My wife is a psychiatrist. I'm not an expert, but I have more second-hand access than most people. > The obvious solution to these problems are SSRIs and other

My wife is a psychiatrist. I'm not an expert, but I have more second-hand access than most people. > The obvious solution to these problems are SSRIs and other anti-depressants. These drugs are very powerful but have really bad side-effects for most people that take them. I suspect you're referring mainly to the increased risk of suicide. Though, there are other less severe - but still not so fun side-effects. The way I've heard this explained (not through my wife), is anti-depressants help raise your mood. However, they can't and don't immediately jump you back to happiness. For someone down in the dumps, this means there's a short period on the way to recovery where energy and motivation levels are increasing, but they still have significant depression. This puts them in a zone where they're trending out of depression, but still have depression while having the motivation to take action on those In other words, anti-depressants don't increase the severity of suicidal thoughts - but they can't give you increased energy. This can be dangerous since the drugs haven't had a chance to get you elevated to a point that the suicidal thoughts decrease. ---- I've learned that it can take a few tries to find the right anti-depressant for you. Different people react more positively to different drugs. If one isn't working, communicate with your provider to try a different one. Usually, within a few tries, you'll find one that works for you. Relatedly, SSRI's aren't the only class of anti-depressants. SNRIs are an alternative class. Other drugs, like Wellbutrin, can also have anti-depressant effects while often having significantly less risk of negative side-effects. ---- Finally, therapy is critical. Regardless of your choice on drugs, having another human being helping you understand and process your feelings and emotions can be incredibly helpful to getting yourself to a better place.