Healing Depression without Medication

A Psychiatrist's Guide to Balancing Mind, Body, and Soul

By: Jodie Skillicorn D.O.

Narrated by: Dominique Dibbell

What if everything we thought we knew about depression—and how to heal from it—was wrong?

Many antidepressants—the first line in our standard of care for treating depression—bring with them potential health risks, yet 1 in 6 Americans takes medication to alleviate feeling sad, anxious, stuck, or unable to focus or sleep. More and more, conventional medicine pathologizes how we respond to life’s challenges—like feeling trapped in an unfulfilling job, grieving the death of a loved one, or being anxious about a bad relationship—telling us that they’re symptoms of disease.

Psychiatrist Jodie Skillicorn presents a new path, debunking the myth of the neurochemical imbalance and exploring the roots of depression, such as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poorly managed day-to-day stress. Evidence-based and fully supported by current depression research, Dr. Skillicorn’s holistic methods for beating depression—including nutrition, mindfulness, fostering meaningful connections, exercise, sleep, nature, and breathwork—empower readers to become agents of their own wholeness and healing.

Critic reviews

“The unfortunate reality is that the majority of patients treated with medications
for depression fail to recover. In this insightful new work, Dr. Skillicorn shares
her holistic prescriptions on how to live a fuller and depression-free life. This is
a must-read in my clinic.”
—JOEL KAHN, MD, FACC, author of The Plant-Based Solution

“While there are dozens of self-help books on depression, Dr. Skillicorn has done
a masterful job of explaining principles of neuroscience and how they work to
create new neural pathways for healing depression. Neuroplasticity is the name of
the game, and Dr. Skillicorn presents meticulous research about the need to look
beyond ‘diagnose and adios’ medicine to help each individual develop his or her own
customized program of activities and nutrition so that the brain can heal itself organically without dangerous medication. Whether you are a doctor, patient, or seeking help for someone you care about, you will find the help you seek in these pages.”
—LAURIE NADEL, PhD, author of The Five Gifts: Discovering Hope, Healing, and Strength When Disaster Strikes

“Medication is not the right answer for everyone. It wasn’t for me. The tools in this book show people so many other options that work without the negative side effects. Healing Depression without Medication brings back hope to what can feel like a hopeless diagnosis. It needs to be the standard for all trained mental health professionals and people suffering from depression.”
—RACHAEL WOLFF, self-awareness coach and author of Letters from a Better Me

Simply Brilliant

Jodie does a wonderful job in stressing both the importance of and provides solutions to a culture where medication prevails as the first defense for treatment. Her personal account and experiences are second-to-none in trying to unravel the chaos that surrounds us. More doctors should be this bold.

Great listen. Serves as an ideal starting point for understanding and treating depression and mental health.

I think this book serves an ideal index for methods and direction to begin healing the mind. The author's unique perspective, having decades of professional experience, really serves the "holistic" treatments well. Jodie also does a great job at keeping the pharmaceutical apparach in check. I think this book is well worth a listen and will probably give it a second listen.

I particularly appreciated the authors grounded and factual approach to explaining the reality of pharmaceuticals in mental health. The author spends a good amount of time going through the data, history, and her own experiences to explain how modern medicine is often subpar for depression. The alternatives to medications suggested are also very well explained and come with ample supporting accounts/ data.

Do not like a self help book starring with ‘Read at your discretion’

I lose interest in Any self help or psychological healing book that begins with the author not taking responsibility for the content of the book. As soon as I read or hear ‘it is at the discretion of reader’ it reminds me of signing a legal transaction and as a result I lose interest.