When I first learned that depression was linked to changes in neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, something inside me shifted. For years, I carried shame, thinking maybe I just wasn’t strong enough, disciplined enough, or positive enough to “snap out of it.”

But realizing that my brain chemistry was part of the story changed everything. Depression wasn’t weakness. It was biology. And understanding that gave me permission to stop blaming myself and start healing.

Why Knowing It’s Biology Lifted Shame

The more I studied the biology of depression, the more I saw how much it explained my own struggles. Low dopamine made motivation nearly impossible. Low serotonin felt like that gray, heavy weight that never lifted. It wasn’t that I wasn’t trying hard enough, it was that my brain was depleted.

During residency, I finally stopped trying to force myself to do everything. I realized I was already working so hard, and what I truly needed was rest. The first time I gave myself permission to stop and rest without guilt, the rest was so much deeper. That single act of giving myself permission became one of the most healing things I could do.

The Four Corners of My Foundation

Once I understood that depression wasn’t just “in my head,” I started thinking about how I could support my brain chemistry in the simplest, most natural ways. Over time, I discovered four foundations that became essential for me: sunshine, water, movement, and sleep.

I’ve always joked that I’m “addicted” to sunlight. Since I was a kid, winter months made me deeply depressed, and even now my husband can find me in any building by following the sunlight. I feel the difference almost immediately. Sunshine lifts me in a way that nothing else does.

I also learned that drinking water could help me clear brain fog and fight fatigue almost immediately. Now, when I feel that mid-afternoon slump, the first thing I reach for is water. It has made a huge difference in how steady and clear my mind feels.

For movement, I stopped seeing exercise as punishment or something to earn rest. Instead, I leaned into gentle forms of movement like walking and stretching that calmed my nervous system, steadied my mood, and made sleep easier.

And sleep itself, maybe the hardest foundation for me, became the one everything else rested on. Deep, consistent rest was the ground my brain needed to begin recovering.

These weren’t quick fixes, but they gave my body and brain the stability to slowly heal.

Learning What Boundaries Really Mean

Another piece of my healing was rethinking boundaries. For a long time, I thought boundaries were about managing other people. But I eventually learned they’re not only to protect me, they’re also for me. Boundaries are about setting limits on my own behavior, not controlling what others say or do.

One of the most practical shifts I made was in clinic. I used to ask patients at the end of each visit, “Do you have anything else you want to ask?” even when I was already out of time. It left me constantly behind, charting late, and going home after 7pm. Eventually I started saying instead, “That’s all the time we have today, it was so good to see you. When do you want to see me again? I’d like to see you in four weeks.”

That small change completely reshaped my days. My clinic flowed more smoothly, I finished work on time, and I actually had the space to rest. Boundaries weren’t about being harsh, they were about honoring my limits and keeping my life sustainable.

Curating My Media Diet

I also learned that what I consumed mentally was just as important as what I ate physically. Movies, shows, social media, and news all affected my mood more than I ever realized.

Once, I triggered a moderate depressive episode simply by watching the third Hobbit movie in theaters, where several beloved characters die at the end. I don’t know why it hit me so hard, but it did. After that, I started paying attention to how violent movies, tragic endings, or scrolling bad news left me heavier and more hopeless.

Now, I don’t watch TV shows or scroll social media at all. If I’m curious about a movie, I’ll just read the Wikipedia summary. Protecting my mental diet has made my life so much better and my brain so much calmer.

What Changed for Me

Understanding the biology of depression didn’t make it magically disappear. But it gave me compassion for myself. It helped me stop blaming, stop forcing, and start supporting my brain in simple, steady ways.

Depression is not a character flaw. It’s not laziness. It’s chemistry, biology, and life circumstances all intertwined. And just as importantly, your brain is capable of healing.

Next week, I’ll be sharing more about natural ways to support your brain in healing depression, building on these same principles of foundation, boundaries, and protection.

And if you want a deeper, structured path through all of this, I created a video course on depression with everything I wish I’d had when I first started struggling. It includes all my counseling for over 10 years in the exam room with my patients, thousands of encounters with hundreds of patients plus all my tips and tricks I've learned in my own personal life.