This. I have severe depression and depression and to be completely honest none of the 30+ drugs and cocktails of pharmaceuticals have ever done a thing for me… at least not anything very noticeable. Sometimes the side effects made things worse.

I’ve been med free for years and have found a lot of improvement by working with a therapist who’s specialised in trauma (relevant for me, maybe not everyone - specialties matter though), getting in touch with spiritual beliefs/practices (meditation, getting in touch with my intuition and subconscious via tarot, learning about Buddhism and pagan religions and different belief systems), and simply trying to be aware of the depression without fighting it while I let a severe episode pass. For me that means when I’m suicidal, I wait it out instead of taking any actions that could be self destructive or self sabotaging- even though in those moments I’m basically praying for the end haha

Also staying on top of nutrition has helped me, as things get MUCH worse when I don’t eat as much as I need to… certain nutrient deficiencies exacerbate or even cause depressive symptoms. I take supplements that aid in neurotransmitter use/production and honestly I notice a difference with those (could be placebo, but oh well)