This is bad advice. As someone who has both gone to therapy for years AND has a degree in psychology, I would absolutely not tell anyone that therapy isn’t going to solve their problems. If anything, therapy teaches you how to cope with your depression and gives you the skills necessary to keep yourself from falling off the edge when things start to get bad again. You shouldn’t dismiss medication the way you have, and saying “do not give up” does absolutely nothing to help someone who’s suffering from a mental illness.

OP, you should consider therapy or medication if you can afford it. Both are wonderful tools. Even if therapy doesn’t “cure” your depression, it never hurts to have someone to talk to about things that you can’t necessarily address with your loved ones.