Need a non-prescription/non-traditional solution for depression, meds aren't working after 9 years,

While there is plenty to try out there...it is endless...I am not here to go on about that but only to say that there is something called a "drug holiday"  and what it is, is going off the med for a while as the body builds up a tolerance to it after a while. I must stress this is under direction of a psychiatrist and your MD may want to try a different type of med for you since other isn't working.

I have to completly disagree with Donna Lynne, psychiatrists in my experience never take you completely off a drug for a holiday, they can tapper you off and start you on another medication, but that wasnt your question.  What seems to be suggested is excersise,  THe bodys "feel good" receptors get a little pick me up from the effects of excersise, it can be as little as a 20 minute walk a day.  If walking is too strenuous on the body, perhaps a swim.  Others have suggested that meditation to steady the mind would be an alternative and help one with a psychiatric condition.  I dont know how I feel about that, bc I'm bipolar too, and I know when I have my mood swings nothing is going to stop me from swinging from mania into depression except my meds.  I dont know how long you have been trying to find a solution to your medication crisis, but I would continue to try.  THere are many many drugs out there that can be tried , MAOIs and non-MAOIs along with mood stabilizing drugs.  It can tae a while to find the right concoction.  Stick with it and I wish you all the best

Researchers and psychologists have found that this type of depression often results from unconscious negative thinking and therefore nutritional healing can help in a big way. A variation of dysthymia is double depression which a person with chronic, low-grade depression periodically experiences major depressive episodes, then returns to their normal, mildly depressive state. Some people become more depressive in the winter months when the days are shorter for their eating habits are affected.

source: http://www.vitalnutritionals.com/nutritional-healing/curing-depression-through-nutritional-healing/

Do you know what the best medicine in the world for depression is? It's not a drug, it's not an herb, it's not a food or drink. Give up? It's good old fashioned EXCERSIZE!! That's right, excerize! If more people got off their lazy butts, and did something constructive with their bodies, anti-depressants would become a thing of the past along with 90 to 95% of of the depression in the world. Yes there are cases of clinical depression caused by some kind of mis-firing in the brain, or a chemical inbalance that does need to be corrected with medication. But for the most part it is a by product of laziness. Depression  didn't become an issue until the advent of the sendentary lifestyle, when it     became a natural part of daily lives. People sit on phones, in front of television screens and on computers the major portion of their day. I would be depressed too if that's all I did. I would hate myself and I too would be looking for a "Magic pill" to make me feel better. No matter how bad my day, no matter what's gone wrong, (even the death of a loved one) I put on my running shoes and out the door I go. And if not on foot, then on the bike. No matter the weather, how hot or cold, or how much snow, I go, on foot or bike. I've never been on an anti-depressant in my life and never will, because as long as I can move, excerize will be my "Magic Pill." And it is!!! I have lived through stressful situations that most humans could not tolerate, much less survive, but when the going gets tuff, that's when I get going. There have been many days when it would have been a whole lot easier just give up and throw in the towel, but I know if I just go work out, go run, or ride the bike, I'm going to feel so much better after I'm done, and have a whole new perspective on things. It's never failed me yet, and I doubt it ever will.

Life is full of grief and sorrow, and things that will never go our way, BUT if you have the ability to move and make the most of it, you will see a total difference in your life and how you respond to it. You only have one life to live, why do you want to spend it depressed, when it takes so little to be happy. Go out and buy yourself a good pair of running shoes, a bike (with no gears) and get out there and bike or run for your life. Take all that money you want to invest in the "magic pill" your looking for and put it towards some sporting equipment, and see how much better you'll feel!!!!!!!! And how much more you will get out of "LIFE".