"I'd tried everything I could think of to cure myself (cutting out alcohol, cutting out caffeine, practicing better "sleep hygiene," melatonin, etc.); nothing had worked. "

What about exercise? I'm not here to give an opinion one way or the other about the benefits of anti-depressants, or what would work for this particular individual, but I think far far too often people over-look the tremendous health benefits of regular exercise and eating right. Not saying it's a cure all/catch all, one stop fix. I just see it being overlooked far too often. Wanna sleep good, exercise hard for a few days, the endorphins it helps produce works wonders on the brain too.