I only know what worked for me.
I was suicidally depressed.

What I do know is that I was depressed for all my life (even as a kid) and I could never slow down those emotions long enough to think straight.

When we (my dr and I) found the 'right' drug, I wasn't feeling wonky, I felt like myself. The difference was I was able to put aside those depressive emotions so I could think rationally.

Then, after awhile (about a year and a half), the same meds started giving me headaches. The dr reduced the dose and I was fine again for about 3 months. Another reduction only lasted about a month till I got headaches again.
Finally, she took me off them completely and I have been off them ever since.
I still have an active RX in case I feel I need them but I haven't.

The dr didn't tell me anything, I just figured I was missing something and the drug helped my produce whatever it was that was missing.
I did continue therapy for another year but she told me she didn't see any reason I should be in therapy anymore, gave me her card and told me to call if I needed to talk.
I check in about 1x a year just to make sure there isn't something happening that I am unaware of but so far, all good.

Part of what helped me, besides the meds, was the fact that I read everything she gave me, participated honestly with accurate feedback and took upon myself the effort to get better. Plus I make effort daily to stay better.

What worked for me, may not work for others.
There are people that do need medicine and can never stop taking it.
There are people that have defects or physical damage that prevents them from finding inner peace.
Mental health and well-being is not a one size fits all treatment.
All I am saying is you usually get out of it what you put into it.
I needed to remove my delusions and start seeing reality for what it is.
It was really hard to do, but it gets easier once you gain some self-discipline and self-esteem.

before anyone gets themselves in a tizzy, that is a general staement, not targeted to anyone in particular.

I'm really glad that you feel better. But if you had these emotions since you were a kid, then how do you know who yourself is?
You say that you weren't feeling wonky, that you felt like myself
This reminds me of a line from a film, that I would recommend, called , I heart huckabees.
The line is repeated, over and over
How am I not myself? How am I not myself?
How am I not myself?

I've seen I Heart Huckabees (2004), I know what you mean.

For me, I meant that I felt like I imagined I should have felt all this time.
Part of coming to grips with it (my depression) was to look at how far back the depression effected me.
I realized that I have always been depressed to some degree or another my whole life. I always wondered if those feelings were normal.
I found out they were not, they were depressive and most of the depression was caused by delusions I had about life in general.

I was taught delusional thinking and accepted it as fact when it really isn't.
By doing some honest reality checks (something I couldn't do because my depression was clouding me) I figured out reality isn't what I was taught.

All my life I thought I was defective because my reality wasn't what I was taught it should be. When I finally removed all the bad advice and bad delusions that were causing me to have low self-esteem, I started unraveling the actual reality and figured out I fit just perfectly in it.

It was a very humbling but honest discovery.
When I stopped expecting the delusion, my stress started falling away.
I removed the drama and started looking at things with a different view and it works (for me).

The most important lesson about reality I learned is that
REALITY DOESN'T CARE, its going to be reality no matter if I accept or reject it.
I also learned that LIFE IS THE PROCESS OF LIVING.
There are no absolutes in life except those in reality.
Plus, I realized that NOBODY LIVES BEHIND MY EYES.
likewise, I don't live behind anybody elses eyes either.
Finally I learned I ONLY HAVE AUTHORITY ON MY OWN SELF.
My emotions, circumstances in life and inner peace is all up to me.
I mean after all, its my life and without me, there is nothing, no life.

Everything I experience,
Every emotional state,
Every decision I make,
Is mine and who else on this planet shares my life, NOBODY.

My thyroid doesn’t work properly. It accounts for my depression. Even tho I am on thyroid replacement, I found a low dose of Wellbutrin helped. It has me back to wanting to do not only what I must, but what I want to do. I used to overthink and dwell on things I couldn’t change or really didn’t matter. Yes, it’s not perfect. But it helps me to focus on getting my day in order and getting it done. Regardless of what everyone says, and regardless of the negative stated, it works for me.

You may well be..

I have heard variously that thinning hair (in women) can be caused by thyroid issues, and then i have heard that thyroid meds can *cause* hair loss....

Can't be both..

I don't know if antidepressants will help if you're having an existential crisis...
It's that moment in life where you question the meaning of your life ..your purpose..
What has it all being for? what was the point..?.. eg).. if one day I will be forgotten..
What is the point of all my work?... or you look back over your life.. and feel like you have not made a real impact..

These are questions you should not dwell on however.. sometimes our real purpose in life is not revealed to us until later on... and the hard lessons we learn now.. will come to serve us in the future.. as human beings we should try to better ourselves everyday learn from our mistakes don't dwell on them... fix what can be fixed.. don't obsess about what cannot be fixed.. let go of the guilt that you hang on to... forgive yourself for your wrongdoings.. appreciate the things that are in your life.. no matter how big or small.. because you give purpose to those things... you are their purpose.. everything is interconnected..

I can explain that and draw diagrams if you like

Go ahead, and in pm please. But we already on opposite sides of the coin, Thus you can't really denounce neo kraepelinians or expose them for what they are, or that figurehead on your bank notes will send her dementors after you

I would think as a nurse you would know the good and bad of taking antidepressants, side effects, adverse reactions......if it is prescribed for depression why would one of the side effects be that it can cause suicidal thoughts? Less meds are best why finance the pharmaceutical companies with their wonder drugs.

Just be glad you didn't have it after being revived on a deathbed.
If you face your mortality, I mean really face death, the end. You come away from that with a different take on life and each day you continue to exist.

Everyday, I feel like I am already past my expiration date.
I no longer have the heath or wealth I used to, back when I was important to someone.
I know, no matter how hard I try, I will never get that youthful edge back again.
At first the loss is staggering.
After awhile, accepting the inevitable, lifestyle adjustments can give a new take on life.
No matter what ya do, ya can't back up the clock.
The worst thing you can do for your contentment is to constantly dwell on things you have no control over.

I think it was Bob Dylan I heard say, on 1 of his albums, that has a radio show on it he presents, it's a rubbish album, but the radio show is worth a listen.

Instead of feeling sorry for yourself for the things that you don't have.
Be thankful for the things that you don't have.... That you wouldn't want
( I'd never thought of it like that, it sort of made me chuckle, and I thought he had a point)

I want my husband back (I am a widow).
I want my health back.

However, you are entitled to your opinion, so....¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just remember..it's NOT "one size fits all" out here...what worked for you, makes you happy/ brings you peace...may not work for someone else.

...I'm not happy all the time, I must be depressed so I need anti-depressants.
If you twist yer head just right and balance on one foot just so, that kinda makes sense. I can see how the logic might be convincing.

I found that the same things happen that always happen.
Its how we see them and how we deal with them that makes us happy or sad.
Some things are always joyous.
Some things are always sad.
Its when we only concentrate on the things that make us sad do we become locked in a depressive loop.
Depression feeds itself. Its self-perpetuating.
One of the major reasons why people get stuck in depression is because they don't realize they are feeding the depression.

I came to realize I have a choice in how I look at things.
I feel it is much more than simple pessimism/optimism but those attitudes are part of it.
It has a lot to do with owning my true feelings about things.
It has a lot to do with knowing when to assign feelings to something where feelings actually do matter.
It has a lot to do with stripping away the assumptions I make about things.
It has a lot to do with not re-acting to implied assumptions.

I've found that my life is full of natural anti-depressants.
I just had to learn how to recognize them again.
I had to learn to assign value to the right things and de-value the things that bring me down.
Then, I had to start looking at things as they actually are.

I don't see a glass of water as half full.
I don't see a glass of water as half empty.
I just see a glass of water.
If I am thirsty, I drink it, if I'm not, I pour it out.
Most things that used to make me feel depressed were not worth the emotional value I was assigning.

I still feel sadness when something sad happens but I don't hang onto that sadness anymore.
I still feel happy when something brings me joy but I don't hang onto that happiness anymore.
I find that most of life is being in a state of contentment.

They now have discovered alot of depression can be cured by adding t3. Many psychiatrists now prescribe this hormone for depression and helps bipolar as well. As for the thinning hair, yes on both. Loss of hair because of lack of thyroid hormones in your body as well as when you begin taking it. It does level off after you get your dose right.

I think this is one of the most under thought aspects of any medication.
Dosage is extremely important and since everyone has a different physiology, everyone's dosage is not the same. Many doctors prescribe the recommended dosage and fail to adjust that dosage according to the patient's physiology.
There are a lot of people on drugs that could work better if the dosage were correct for them.
As it happens, more often than not, people are over-dosed or under-dosed and have side effects.

You know depression is something pharmaceuticals came up with to sell their drugs, ever wonder why we never heard of people on antidepressants in the 50's 60's because most people were actually actively working physical labor ,think about how your mom and dad were to wore out to think about how "depressed"they were.

I guess what ima trying to convey is,that back then people didn't have the time like we do now things are easier but everything rush rush hurry hurry. Smoke pot .

I agree to an extent. Depression is a real condition.
Pharmaceutical companies didn't invent it.

"I want what I want, when I want it and I want it all right now" leads to depression.

I've worked in I a lot of long term care homes and one of the first things nurses do is get a Dr's order for antidepressants. "Oh they're depressed"hell yea wouldn't you be ? Told you have to live the rest of your life in a care home. And instead of addressing the issue they will just keep increasing the dosage or switch to another , so now you have just another geriatric zoombie walking or wheeling around.