I understand where you are all coming from but again l would say that until you've been there........
I wasn't put on Citalopram straight away , l had lots of talks with the doc and senior nurse at the practice first. Then l was carefully monitored and told that in some patients it can cause suicidal thoughts so l was well aware of that . The doc made sure that it suited me before putting it on repeat . He described my condition as , in layman's terms, l had been sad for so long my brain had forgotten how to be happy.
I really don't know how exercise , diet etc would have helped. I wasn't sleeping so had no energy. physical or mental to exercise with and had a good diet anyway . I can only say that it worked for me . I am now back to how l was, active, laughing and loving life.
Jan