As someone who has struggled with severe depression for . . . hell, is it really twenty years already? . . . I have exactly one word of advice: Medicate.

I was suicidal, to the point of making quite efficient, detailed plans that I simply couldn't be bothered to actually implement. I was crying almost every day. I was unable to laugh. Now? Now I'm just a bit more melancholy than the average person.

I'm not exactly sure what she means by "dependent", but they are not addictive, they are not uppers, they are not "happy pills". They are, purely and simply, anti-depression.

By the way, reactions can be idiosyncratic. My doc tried me on a half-dozen antidepressants before they found one (actually, a pair, Luvox and Trazodone) that actually worked. (Well, Prozac worked, and very quickly, but also gave me hives. I actually argued with my doctor that the hives were worth it; she said the allergic symptoms could get worse and kill me.)