consider that your depression likely is making you pessimistic about your prognosis.

Yes, I've heard this before, but I don't see why any reasonable, non-depressed person would be pessimistic about it. As I've said, it's not like this is the first time I've ever been depressed in my life and I'm irrationally predicting that I can't be cured. And I've heard stories like yours before: people who were depressed until they found the right combination of medications. But in my situation, my psychiatrists have gone back and forth between different combinations and then right back around to the ones I already tried. Changing them up YET AGAIN just feels like shuffling the deck chairs around on the Titanic (but of course I'd say that). If there are tons more different medications to try as you assert, none of my psychiatrists seem to know about it.

To be fully clear, anti-depressants have had an effect on me. I definitely don't feel unbearably miserable and anxious as I do without them. They just haven't gotten me to 100%.

I GUESS I could ask my psychiatrist to try yet another combination I haven't tried before. But it just sounds like a nuisance, frankly.

As for exercise, yes, I've heard that countless times. I used to be much more active, and don't recall it ever having a palpable effect on my mood. Nowadays, it's just not gonna happen. I've tried to get myself to exercise, with some occasional success, but with my work schedule, when it finally comes time to do it, I flatly refuse. You could say, "you just gotta find something you enjoy!!" But I'm depressed! I enjoy nothing! (/sarcasm) I guess I could make sure to make time for hiking (probably what I enjoy the most) or get a membership at an expensive gym near work (which would be the most convenient arrangement for me) but the fact that exercise never particularly had an effect on me makes me not particularly motivated to do so.