Alessandra in LED Therapy, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK on 7 January, 2026
Everyone Gets Depressed
Depression is different for everyone. Some can count on all their fingers the number of times a bad depression has paid them a visit. Some have the dark pleasure of many unwelcome visits. For me, depression is a brooding friend that seems to always find a key to wherever I am, no matter how many times I change the locks.
For most my life I've been on a cocktail of drugs to fight it and cumulatively I've taken enough doses to kill more than a team of horses.
Many of you know me as an American and some of you know that I divide my time for the last couple of years between the US and the UK. It was a dream of mine to live in the UK once again so that I'd be in an inspiring place where I could devote my energies to creative work.
But to pursue this crazy idea 😉 I needed to wean myself of all those psychotrophic medications. These meds in this day and age aren't typically addictive. But, one can't just stop taking them. To throw caution to the wind and stop or run out of prescribed drugs of this kind can be dangerous.
I Wish I Could Quit You
Psychiatric drugs are an expensive, high-maintenance thing. Every week, inventories need to be taken. Medical appointments have to be made and pick ups from pharmacies need to be arranged. You may think, "okay, that's not hard." And you're right. It shouldn't be difficult.
Some of my meds were regulated ones in the US, categorized as controlled substances. These ones can only be picked up within certain timeframes. This is a pain-in-the-ass enough for someone staying home, but for a creative, who is also a speaker and musician with appearances around the world, this is a real dream wrecker.
I didn't know if it were even possible for me to come off the meds. As we say in Texas, where I was raised, they were "keeping my head screwed on straight." All I knew was that if I wanted to live the dream, I'd need to be healthy enough to come off each one, however long it needed to take.
Four years.
Day by day. Good ones or bad. Under intense medical supervision vision, I reduced my dosage from seven pills a day to six. From five a day to four.
You'd think three, then two, then one dose a day and I'd be done, right? Nope...then came the long months of taking fractions of dosages. But eventually the day came. No more pills.
Shedding Light on a Creative Life
Come February 2026, I celebrate my two-year anniversary of becoming prescription drug free.
Starting last year, I undergo LED light therapy. It can assist with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), non-seasonal depression (as an adjunct treatment), and jet lag/shift work mood issues.
In this photo above, I'm receiving a lower frequency therapy, a combo of red, blue, and near infrared (NIR) lower frequencies that are good for mood, but are really better for skin and cellular therapy. The bright white full-spectrum light therapy is much more intense and better for depression, but it doesn't photograph to effect.
When I asked for assistance to capture this photo today, I couldn't have imagined I would be posting this part of my story this evening. But, my appearance as featured guest on Hive Thrive on the Hive Discord last night got me thinking about some of what it has taken to be able to do the creative work I'm now doing for Hive, for Creative Work Hour 
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Gratitude Is The Best Therapy
I sincerely thank my Hive friends 
My daily posts include a nominal amount of daily staking that is aligned with the day of the month, as you see attached to my activity of the day. I enjoy sharing what I'm doing at about the time I do my power up. My goal is to share authentic living and how I make Hive a meaningful part of that experience.
Much love,🥰
Alessandra