You could try sam-e if you are in a country that isn’t prescription only (many don’t require one).

Imo meds alone won’t do a ton of good, if you’re battling depression or constant blahness you should also be trying to steadily make improvements in your habits and life situation. When you are not feeling too down try to make a list of things that might make daily life more pleasant and try to work some of that stuff into life. Things like sitting in the sun or watching the sky aren’t too trivial. If nothing sounds pleasant (because depression) imo you have to go the regimented route where you add things to your life that you think would improve anyone’s situation like eating healthy, exercising regularly, and picking up a new hobby.

Vitamin D

A lot of people, especially those who don’t go outside, have a vitamin D deficiency. This is especially prevalent this time of year as winter is just ending.

A lot of depression symptoms can be tied to Vitamin D deficiency. Go out and get a supplement and take it for a week, see how you feel.

Someone I think on mander.xyz was saying that regular 90-second cold showers seemed anecdotally to be maybe competitive with medication in terms of how well it combatted depression

I used to take 5-htp after molly because it is supposed to help rapidly build back up serotonin levels, and is said to help with depression, sleep disorders and other health issues

Tesofensine is an antidepressant with weight loss effects that can be purchased online without a prescription for research purposes.

It’s fairly expensive, usually running about $250 for a one month supply, but if you need a temporary break from your depression then it might work for you.

However, because it is a research chemical, all of the side effects of the chemical are not known and you would be taking a risk in using it even for a short period of time.

Chances are it is likely safe but there is still a risk and you have to weigh that against your mental health and your finances and the costs and difficulty associated with getting put on a traditional antidepressant prescribed to you by a competent doctor.

Cats

Depends on whether you live somewhere with legal weed

All the people saying exercise… I swear that has to vary across people. I went to the gym thrice a week for two years and hated every gd second of it.

Go on hikes through forested trails on a regular basis, no bullshit.

A certain fun guy is really nice for this, but start small

There’s probably no non-spooky chemical that will make a significant dent. People are recommending, like, chocolate, but I’m certain the main effect is eating your feelings, with substances causing a rounding error.

However, I can predict pretty well what therapist homework would be, or at least what it always was for me. Basically just clean living stuff, and not giving in to the urge to avoid doing things. There’s CBT too, and resources to do it on your own, although it can get confusing without a helping hand. So, yeah, I suggest self-administering therapy. IANAT.

The line between medicine and drug is largely arbitrary.

Start with the basics of diet, exercise, water, sleep, social interaction. They’re consistent and have very low harm potential. It’s also shocking how much each of them contributed to a sense of well being, or how much a lack of any one of them can cause a downward spiral.

Supplements and vitamins also aren’t super risky, although they aren’t well regulated and many do nothing in their pill form. One or some of the vitamin Bs seem important for me personally, although I’m not 100% certain and I don’t know which one(s) and to what degree. But I’ll drink a monster energy regularly because they have 200-400% dv. Omegas from fish oils may also be good. L-tyrosine and things like it are commonly discussed in nootropics boards, I can’t vouch for them personally.

As far as medications, it’s unlikely you’ll find an easy and risk-free solution, unfortunately. Even well-studied prescription medications aren’t guaranteed to work for your specific needs and have potential to make things worse, which is why in an ideal world everyone would have access to a medical professional that can oversee their use. And often the ones that work aren’t immediately obvious, but demonstrate marginal improvement over the longer term. In fact euphoria and hypomania (which in the moment feel like “oh my god this drug is working”) may be signs the drug isn’t a good fit. Very difficult to gauge on your own.

Online prescription mills are fairly painless if you have a good idea that a specific medication might work for you. I used them to get on a specific antidepressant after doing my own research.

Kanna and St John’s wort both have SSRI compounds I believe. Be careful, just because something’s a legal plant doesn’t mean it can’t interact negatively or have harmful effects. But these are probably the closest to what you’re asking.

Kratom is legal and can boost mood but has high addictive potential. In my experience not worth it except to get off more addictive substances.

Dex/dxm/dextromethorphan is an active ingredient in some cough suppressants that has antidepressive potential. Can be purchased with no additives at some pharmacies and online. Tripping on this isn’t fun at all in my opinion, I’d rather do salvia, but small doses seem to have some mood improving effects that last a few days

Stay away from diphenhydramine (I mention it because it’s often spoken of in the same context as Dex). Its use has been linked to dementia.

Psychedelics can help deconstruct old assumptions and mental structures that may be contributing to your depression. I’d describe the experience as rediscovering the magic of existence. Many of them also have antidepressant qualities-- a sort of afterglow that may last a week or a month. Microdosing is said to tap into the afterglow without tripping. LSD and shrooms are fairly well-studied. Mescaline acts similarly and may be easier to find. Morning glory seeds are legal and contain LSA which is similar to LSD. Salvia acts differently than any of these, often leading to bad trips, but is generally legal. None of these are addictive, but may be risky for people with certain mental illnesses.

There are a variety of legal and grey market stims that can improve mood, but they may have harmful effects and addictive potential. You’ll find a bunch of them if you browse nootropics boards, but keep in mind anonymous comments are not scientific and may undersell risk and negative effects. Nootropics boards will also discuss other supposedly cognitive enhancing substances. Lions mane is a common one. Some are natural supplements or things your body already produces (though this doesn’t guarantee they’re safe or pure). Many are addictive, many are probably snake oil. Search a drug/supplement on pubmed before trying it.

Adjacent to nootropics and more dangerous is research chemicals. Half of them are attempts to make “legal” but identical/similar analogues to illegal drugs. Some are novel. Almost none of them have been studied and purity is never guaranteed. I Honestly don’t recommend unless you’re at a point where it doesn’t matter. At one point for me it was “find a happy chemical or commit suicide” and I think that’s the only level this kind of experimentation is truly justified. But well-studied psychedelics are preferable.

I don’t know about that kind of medicine, but resolve your repressed anger and depression will disappear.

In terms of mental health, drugs that give any kind of relief should be treated as a shelter from the storm so you can rebuild. This means if you’re not rebuilding while you’re in shelter, your happiness is only going to last as long as your shelter is standing. Drugs wear off, and it is very easy to just want to keep putting your shelter up ad infinitum. This is where the second problem of drugs for relief comes in. The shelter is sub-standard compared to doing the things to build a lasting happiness. You can get stoned as shit, but if you and your life is still in shambles there’s only so much that can do.

All the above being said cannabis can help when you need a break. Psychedelics can help as well and microdosing incurs minimal risk. Neither of these will fix any of your problems, but they can enable you to work on your problems yourself when it was too difficult to before.

Alternatively, if you want to avoid drugs altogether meditation can be an option in some circumstances. This is barely a recommendation because meditation is a skill that you have to practice in optimal form consistently before you’ll get anything at all from it. It’s impossible to actually know whether you’re doing it right until you start to feel relief from it and so many things can make practicing mediation as a beginner almost impossible if you’re in crisis. If you attempt mediation with absolutely no expectations other than that you will fail at it until you happen to approach it in a way that works you may eventually get some relief from it. If you get it working consistently, it is far stronger than anything you can get legally without a prescription in terms of providing relief. I can give you some guidance if you’re interested in this path. Secondarily, Kava can help a little in that it dulls the pain.

Vallerian root, kanna, ashwaganda, etc. might work if you believe strongly that they’re working. Avoid depressants like alcohol because although they provide temporary relief they also make things worse when they wear off which can be a terrible cycle.

D3 with K2 supplement can help.

If you want something that’s legal (but probably shouldn’t be) I recommend kratom. Look for something that says Super Green. The less you take the more energy and vitality it gives you, the more you take the more it feels like an opiate.