First of all, I would like to point out that I am a pine-marten and in no way a medical professional. I would be very happy if anyone benefited from this advise, but if you have access to a doctor, please discuss things like daily 5-htp with them. It may be an herb commonly available, but we should all know that legal and herbal doesn't mean without consequence!
Depression and anxiety are often considered a direct consequence of the brain's serotonin levels. Prescription SSRIs often being the first thing prescribed for major depression. As well as these issues, my admittedly non-expert research seems to have found some evidence that fibromyalgia, chronic-fatigue, and cluster and migraine headaches are also linked with the serotonin / 5ht system.
I post this because I have a diagnosis of major depression and had a lifetime of migraines sometimes evolving into the stabbing pain that cluster sufferers speak of. And I have friends with fibromyalgia, and chronic-fatigue syndrome and we have had some benefit from some of the following things.
For me, the SSRIs took the edge off of the depression, and I felt somehow that serotonin was key for everything else as well. SSRIs work by keeping your brain from 'recycling' old serotonin, keeping the level higher, the way a running sink would have higher level of water with the drain somewhat clogged. The danger of SSRIs of course is the 'sink flowing over' so to speak. Serotonin syndrome can kill, so do take the avoiding harmalas and other MAOI inhibitors while on SSRIs very seriously.
Ok, the SSRI took the edge off of my depression, but how could I do more. Exercise is recommended often, I tried Tai-Chi as anything more fast paced seemed to trigger migraine attacks. I can't recommend Tai-Chi enough.
Oh, sunlight! Bright light stimulates production of serotonin. SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder is a diagnosis of low serotonin level from the lack of light in non-equatorial climate during the Winter (Or opposite for those in the tropic of Capricorn) Perhaps there is an evolutionary reason, the not-wanting-to-get-out-of-bed might be very beneficial to a hunter-gatherer in the Wintertime when the pickings are slim. But since we have to be productive year round, let's trick our brains with artificial light.
If you have medical insurance you might be able to get therapeutic lights provided for you. I've read of a case of a fast-food manager getting prescribed therapeutic lighting in the USA, and the corporation had to pay for retrofitting the break-room / office with the lighting, however after installing the lighting the manager tracked all-employee productivity going up by 20%!
With my migraines however, I wasn't able to hold onto good employment enough to keep health insurance, I couldn't even afford to keep seeing a physician for my SSRIs, so I went through a horrible SSRI withdrawal and a much too fast taper. Please avoid this at all costs, SSRI withdrawal is dangerous and horrible, tell your doctor that you're too poor and have him slowly taper you. Like I should have done!
I switched from SSRI to 5-htp. 5-htp is a dietary supplement available at supplement shops, and even some grocery stores. Try the internet if you wish to try it and have no local source. Make sure that 5-htp doesn't interact badly with anything that you take or may take. Ask your pharmacist, doctor, or at the very least check a site like this:
http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html5-htp is a molecule very similar to serotonin, and to DMT actually. You can't eat serotonin directly because it doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier. 5-htp can be used by your brain as a building block for serotonin with the help of vitamin B6. It goes through a process called decarboxylation and becomes serotonin. Did it work for me, yes, I feel better then I did with SSRIs and without any noticeable side effects.
Back to the lights, if you can't afford special lights, there is a specification that is good to know. It is a measure of the percentage of the sun's natural spectrum that the light falls within. It's called the CRI (Color Rendering Index). 100 would be the same as sunlight. 90 or higher is therapeutic, often compact florescent can be found in this range. A great option is also to buy inexpensive 4 foot T-8 ballast shop lights. As far as tubes, my favorite are the Phillips TL-950 f32t8. Also referred to as the TL-90 5000K (5000K refers to the color temperature and 5000K is close to noon direct sunlight) The f32t8 means that the tube uses 32 watts and is for use in a T-8 ballast. Make sure your ballast type and tube type match. The TL-950 has a CRI of 98, and is surprisingly inexpensive. The Lumichrome 1XC is also a good choice, though tends to be more expensive. Try local lighting supply stores, or the internet to order the lights.
My own experience is that spending time basking under my TL-950s and taking 100mg 5-htp daily has seemed to keep my depression and anxiety under control.
DMT seems to raise the serotonin level for a week or so, but I post this info as something for people to try to see if other not too expensive things might help.
None of the above treated of migraines (except the DMT), the 5-ht system is complex, there are expensive pharmaceutic products like triptans that flood certain receptors with serotonin. Many are helped with psilocybin, for surprisingly long period, as well as DMT, such a myself.
Best luck to everyone on improving your lives, mentally, physically, and spiritually!