I'm currently on an antidepressant and antipsychotic for a variant of depression called major depression with psychotic effects - basically, if depression gets bad enough you can start to lose touch with reality.

I was afraid to go on meds, but I'm very glad that I did. I have stopped neglecting my life, because I am able to go about my day without that 1000 pound rock on my back. It makes life much, much easier.

They are not "happy pills" in the sense that they make you relentlessly optimistic, but they take away the incredible pessimism and irrational despair that characterizes depression. I still have good and bad days, but they are related to actual events and not just relentlessly bad for no reason.

They are not without side effects (which thankfully for me have been very mild and have gone away after a few months - mild nausea if I take them on an empty stomach, some sexual stuff for a few months) but on the balance it's been incredibly positive.

You might hear some doubts about their efficacy, but from what I've read it's proportional to how badly off you are - the worse you're feeling, the more likely it is due to a chemical problem rather than just everyday sadness.

Meds can have disruptive side effects that make them difficult to adjust to. This is the primary reason I don't take them now. This is not true for everybody, and the side effects often wear off after a little while.

I wouldn't be afraid of neglecting yourself more. It's difficult to describe the effects of antidepressants, as their onset is extremely gradual (weeks to months) and it's been a while for me, but they basically shift the average mood up from "everything is kinda awful" to a more neutral equilibrium.

Antidepressants aren't the only option. Therapy is also effective, and if you feel that you're neglecting your life it does give you a place to talk about it.