Well... I think you're exactly correct. If a person's depression is mild, it is certainly possible to pull oneself up via distraction, meditation, exercise, & a variety of other things. Antidepressants do a credible job of helping with mild depression also I would imagine. But when a person's depression is deep, that's when the going gets tough & none of this stuff is of much help. That doesn't mean one shouldn't try these types of things, if one can muster the energy. But the likelihood that they're going to have a large impact is small.

I've been on Cymbalta (or it's generic equivalent) for well over 2 years now. It was never great at abating my depression. But I felt like it sort-of "kept a floor under me" so that I could only fall so far down before I would gradually begin the slog back up. There was, I felt, some benefit in that. At this point, however, I'm going off of it due to cost considerations. It remains to be seen how I'll do "au natural", as they say.