u/AnkBert

There's probably been quite a lot of posts like these, but I mostly want to discuss with others about what's on my mind.
I've had some issues with mental health in my life, especially in my teens, but it's never really been a clear case of depression until recently.

Last autumn I started studying art after having worked part time for 2 years and it's generally been great. However the school can also be very overwhelming and I've had difficulty managing my emotions at times where my stress has been increased (which is a lot of the time). At the beginning of 2026 I started a new medication that made me have more mood swings, and at the same time my partner and I had some issues. School being stressful and overwhelming, me and my partner having issues in combination with the new medication led me to have the worst mental health I've ever had, and I can see very cleary that it was depression. My partner was worried about me and brought this up to me and I sought help through the doctor prescribing my new medication. She agreed that it seemed like depression and we made a plan on how to move forward.

I'm generally doing much better now as my life has stabilized in many ways and the emotional symptoms are not as prominent as before, but I still have symptoms that don't seem to be improving as the others have. I'm on sleep meds now but I'm still having struggles with my sleep, and even when I do sleep well I'm tired and get overwhelmed easily. I can feel easily irritated, however I can generally handle this much better than before so it's not as much of an issue. It's easy for me to get anxious and stuck in thought-loops, and I know that when I'm doing well I'm usually a very calm person. I also feel like my emotions are more flat than usual and socializing isn't as fun as it once was. I have a general sense that I'm not back on track yet and feel very easily stressed, even though I feel much better than when I first sought help.

I've been offered anti-depressants by my doctor multible times now and I have declined thinking that it would go away on it's own once I fixed up the issues with my first medication (and I still feel that if I wait it could slowly get better), but my partner still says that she sees symptoms quite clearly and thinks it could be benificial for me, and I am also quite curious to see if it could help me. But I am also afraid of permanent side effects and generally feel like my state isn't bad enough to feel certain it would be worth it.

Not sure what to get out of this (and I will talk to my doctor about my thoughts) but I'm curious to hear if anyone has been in a similar situation or can relate in any way, and what you chose to do