Antidepressants do actually seem to work, and I think it’s weird that people forget/neglect this. See Scott’s review here and more recent writeup. Those are both on SSRIs, there is also Wellbutrin (see Robert Wiblin’s personal experience with it here) and at least a few other fairly promising pharmacological treatments.I would also read the relevant Lorien Psych articles and classic SSC posts on depression treatments and anxiety treatments.
Since you asked for the meta-approach: I think the key is to stick with each thing long enough to see if it works, but also do actually move on and try other things.
Antidepressants do actually seem to work, and I think it’s weird that people forget/neglect this. See Scott’s review here and more recent writeup. Those are both on SSRIs, there is also Wellbutrin (see Robert Wiblin’s personal experience with it here) and at least a few other fairly promising pharmacological treatments.
I would also read the relevant Lorien Psych articles and classic SSC posts on depression treatments and anxiety treatments.
Since you asked for the meta-approach: I think the key is to stick with each thing long enough to see if it works, but also do actually move on and try other things.