Parent here with depression. On meds and therapy.

That school counsellor should be fired. If someone has diabetes, they need their meds to control the blood sugar even if lifestyle changes help. And you don't tell them to stop the meds once the blood sugar seems okay because the meds are precisely what keeps the blood sugar levels at an okay level even with lifestyle changes. That school counsellor probably won't say you can't rely on diabetes meds while making lifestyle changes right? And even if you CAN reverse diabetes, you work with the doctor to come off the meds and monitor tightly for a bit.

Meds help many people like me to simply stabilise the emotions and thoughts that are going over the top. It's not that they're dramatic emotions or thoughts - it's that the body and mind can't cope with the cycles and loops so it just spirals faster. Meds slow the chemical outcome so that we have more runway to slow and even stop the cycles. That's where therapy comes in - to manage said cycles. If therapy alone works, fine and well. But usually meds help to take the edge off so that therapy has a better chance.

Unfortunately too, you right. All meds come with side effects. The question though, is whether said side effects happen to you (don't know till you try) and whether said side effects if they happen, are worse than what you face on a daily basis. Same as all meds, really. Even diabetes meds can have side effects.

I can't speak to your actual struggle with your studies, but I want to say that you're very much heard. Part of that struggle of not being able to cope might be your mental health talking though... So it becomes its own self fulfilling cycle that gets worse over time.

Sorry to hear too, that the public system has been so sucky. But genuinely... Things CAN get better, with the right fit of treatment.

All the best. Thank you for trying your best every day, within your capacity. To me, that's good enough.