Good for you. You just improved your chances of beating depression by a hundred by gettingn off meds. Meds just alleviate symptoms like taking tylenol after getting your leg cut off. It won’t fix your leg. Try St Johns Wort and basically eating a good diet is so much better than a bad diet which causes a lot of anxiety and depression like corn syrup, sugar, and junk carbs. Get out and exercise too. I swear half of all depression is caused by poor diet and lack of exercise. Also, try volunteering or helping other people and hanging out with friends. Being sociable and doing social things helps out a lot bc it keeps your mind off your own problems and yourself. The problem with modern psychology is that it tries to fix you and focuses so much on you it turns you into a doped up narcissist. Fish also seems to be a good mood elevator as cultures that eat a lot of fish and omega 3 for some reason seem happier.

well i’m no doc so I can’t tell you what meds to take but eating healthy food is very beneficial; your fruits and vegetable which have serotonin which is a happy chemical is good for ya…do some walking or running…yoga…tai chi…things that make you feel goood

Eat foods high in tryptophan– turkey, tuna fish, bananas, chocolate.
St John’s wort is a natural antidepressant. Gotu Kola, Gingko Biloba, and Ginseng also are reputed to ease depression.
Every day, make a list of the important things you need to do (go to the DMV, pay the power bill, call your dr, etc.) then at the end of the day congratulate yourself on th stuff you finished.
Do one good thing for yourself every day (take a warm bath, cook yourself a really good dinner, etc.). Note how you feel afterward, and REMEMBER IT! When you feel down, recall that feeling, and try to recreate it.
Seek the comany of a friend, even if you don’t feel like seeing anyone. It ALWAYS makes me feel better when my mom comes over; her energy perks me right up. It also helps that she has severe ADHD!!;)

there are alot of things you can do daily to help fight off depressive moods. it really depends alot on your personality and why your feeling depressed though. if your mourning something painful in your life, eating healthy and excercising isnt going to make u feel happy. if your depressed because of genetics, and a chemical imbalance in your brain, then therapy/ friends wont help much either, and u might haveto look into medication. but some general tips i picked up were; find something you truly enjoy and do it regularly. if you do not have something, it is well worth the time you invest to explore. acting opposite is another helpful tool. if you are angry then listen to calming music, if you are sad watch funny videos on youtube. this one might seem annoying at first, but it does help de-intensify ur emotions. another thing to do is give back. a big helper with depression is to invest your time doing something charitable/ worthwhile. whether its volunteering, spending time with a sibling, planting trees, whatever. it can be very pleasing to feel that you are doing something good for others/ earth, and is verry effective in focusing ur thoughts elsewhere. hope this helped somewhat.

Hey.

I’m a 100% non synthetically-medicated psychotic kid. Diagnosed schizophrenic and have very serious positive symptoms and equally horrible negative symptoms. Here is what I do to keep on top of the depression that is one of my negative symptoms.

1) Omega 3 Fish Oil. You may have to buy a brand manufactured for kids because adult brands don’t tend to be filtered for mercury and you DEFINITELY want a mercury-free product.

2) Multi-vitamins. Take something with a very high iron, vitamin D and magnesium.

3) Exercise. If you’re overweight, a healthier bodyweight will help you out. If you’re not, exercise will still release endorphins. Personally when I’m at my worst I do yoga from flashcards, (this is when I cannot leave the house) boxing, and jumping jacks while a music channel (usually rock but I figure anything with a good beat that you like listening to when you’re happy will work) is on. I also go running, when I’m not as bad, usually in a forest on warm days or at a beach on cold days, somewhere where I’ll be alone with nature and my ipod.

4) Music. I mentioned the music channel & ipod above, but I also blare Queen, Bowling for Soup, Blink-182 and the All-American Rejects (aka nobody who sings about death, depression, suicide, sadness, or has a downbeat – less than 4/4 – track) and I HATE IT. It makes me MAD and MAD is better than depressed. It is more productive. ;]

5) I force myself to do things I enjoy when I’m happy. I take a shower with the nice smelling soap and warm my towels on the radiator, I watch the funny episodes of Firefly and my favourite films and read magazines and This Book Will Save Your Life (A.M Homes – it’s my favourite book). And if that sucks, I do the laundry and hoover. For me what works is just keeping moving. Then even if my whole day sucks and I can’t bear it, the next day I can wake up to something good I’ve done and maybe feel better for it – or I have fond memories of my favourite movie etc.

6) My favourite one – I read a book I’ve written. It’s a big old book that I bought ages ago and when I’m happy, I write things I like in the book. Stupid stuff like, Xander from Buffy, and the sound from line arrays, and Diamond 4′s, and sherbert lemons, and Harry Potter 1, and Gandhi quotes, things that have no consequence. If I’m only mildly down, it can get me back up.

7) Meditation. Just sit quietly and concentrate on not concentrating on anything. If that makes sense. Don’t allow yourself to have thoughts. Let your only thought be the thought that stops you thinking about anything. It sounds complex but you probably get my meaning. I like to meditate either in the dark in my room but the sunlight is good for depression so I force myself to sit in the middle of the living room with all the shades open in the sunlight.

Therapy. Not from a councillor – from a psychologist, in particular a psychologist who is a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Therapist – these people are like GOLDDUST. They will teach you how to get through your worst moments and help you tailor your recovery techniques to your own personality. Plus, they’re also usually really cool not-up-themselves people. Interview a few different psych’s if you can, and if they’re in an office and wearing a suit, don’t bother. Find someone who wears jeans and listens to the music you like and likes the TV shows you like, so you geniunely like their company and that way, you’ll get a lot more out of your time with them – it’ll be more friendly and less clinical. And that in itself will lift your mood.

Please bear in mind that the most important thing to have to get over depression without meds is psychological resilience. You need to be the type of depressed person who says, this sucks, but I WILL GET THROUGH THIS. I WILL NOT GIVE UP.. I WILL FORCE MYSELF THROUGH THIS. If you’re prone to giving up (I am not saying this is something to be ashamed of, it’s just something to be honest about – I understand fully that being a can’t-be-f*cking-bothered/don’t-want-to-can’t-make-me depressive is horrific and not something the depressive can help) you may have to come to terms with the fact that you may need a low dosage of meds (Citalopram is good in low doses) to get you through, and you may have to rely more heavily on therapy. Either way, get a CBT and remember you are not alone, and you should never give up on yourself.

‘When all you’ve got to keep is strong, move along. And even when your hope is gone, move along.’

Good luck.

I found talking with others helpful, sometimes friends and i tried councelling for a bit. Also keep active and do activities even if you initially don’t feel like it.
I wrote this which may be of help as well http://www.healthmad.com/Mental-Health/Talking-About-Depression.506537