How to Treat Depression without Meds | Dr. David Burns
Stanford psychiatrist Dr. David Burns explains how to cure depression, why antidepressants don’t work, and how to treat depression without meds.
A few weeks ago, I went on a trip to the Belgian coast with my cousin – the one and only Jellis Vaes. We always talk about a lot of interesting topics whenever we meet and this time, we got to one that really struck a chord with me.
Jellis said that the two most important questions you must ask yourself are: why do we live? And, why do we die? These questions really hit home for me because I had never really thought about them before.
The two years that I had been studying philosophy up until that point never caused these questions to pop up. For me, it was always about how to live a better life and how to be a better person.
Anyway, Jellis defines these fundamental questions with an old Aboriginal proverb:
“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.”
I think this is a beautiful way of phrasing an answer to the questions on why we live and why we die, but it would be way too easy for me to just take that quote as my answer. It wouldn’t have any deep personal meaning.
So, I started looking for my own answers and naturally, I turned to philosophy. Quite early in my research, I realized that philosophy couldn’t help me at all. That is because mankind has been trying to solve those two questions since the very origin of human thinking.
All the great minds in history have their own opinion about the meaning of life and – they all disagree with each other. So, whenever I found a satisfying answer with one philosopher it immediately got rebuked by another one.
Needless to say, this realization got me even more interested in philosophy. A subject that I already loved dearly. Actually, before Jellis posed these questions to me I was quite worried about my studies. I didn’t have a lot of questions in my life so a lot of philosophical topics didn’t seem that relevant to me.
The one thing I found so interesting about philosophy was the way I could apply it to real life. In fact, it was stoicism and epicureanism that really sparked my interest. These were philosophies I could apply to my life in order to make it better.
Guys like Nietzsche, Hegel or any other big-name philosopher always looked and sounded cool on the surface, but I never had any reason to delve deeper into their works. However, when I started thinking about why we live and why we die, a whole new world of questions opened up to me.
Why do we suffer? Does life have any meaning? What makes us different from animals? And many, many more.
I can positively say that these two questions reignited a spark in my philosophical studies. And now it has become a passionate fire that burns within me. A fire much bigger and warmer than before. (No, not in that way, you pervert.)
One particular time my interests really sparked was while I was sat in Wells Cathedral during a trip to England. I was listening to a Danish boy choir rehearsing for their service later that afternoon when I decided to look for an answer to the two infamous questions within myself.
First, I wanted to know what life really was, because maybe that could give me an answer. I thought of the biological and thermodynamically definitions of life but those didn’t really help me as I was looking for something less scientific and more spiritual.
So, I started going off on a sidetrack about our similarity to animals and whether or not they might be satisfied with their life. After a long time, my session in Wells Cathedral only made me feel like life didn’t have any meaning. A few days later the question came to mind again and it’s then that something hit me…
It doesn’t matter what life is.
It doesn’t matter what satisfies animals or whether or not there is a God. It doesn’t matter whether there is an afterlife or just pure oblivion after we die. It doesn’t even matter whether or not we have a clear purpose as a species. All of this doesn’t matter to find a reason to live.
And so, I found my answer to both questions. Why do we live and why do we die?…
To help others.
Let me try to explain that. As I mentioned before, I was always thinking about some philosophical truth or purpose that I had to base my life on in order to give it some meaning.
And so, I turned to philosophers for a definitive answer, but they all disagreed. However, it was at this point that I realized that all of that didn’t matter. In my lifetime I was never going to find the real answer to those questions. Maybe there is an objective answer somewhere out there but I’m sure as hell not going to find it.
So, what did I do? I took the best bet because whatever the reason for our existence might be, we’ve got the best chance of achieving it by helping each other. Marcus Aurelius, the great stoic emperor said something very similar.
Men are born for the sake of each other. So, either teach or tolerate
Working on yourself can be scary, overwhelming, confusing, messy, challenging, and lonely. On this podcast, hosted by Jellis Vaes, an aspiring clinical psychologist who once battled severe emotional struggles, you’ll gain valuable insights from experts in psychology, neuroscience, and relationships, as well as people like you and me, to support you on your mental health journey, help you feel less alone, and untangle some of the complexity of mental health.
For more support, visit Inner Path Seekers.
Show notes can be found here:https://theipsproject.com/2026/04/reason-we-stay-addicted-kevin-cornelius/
Addiction is complex, deeply human, and often misunderstood.
In this episode, we take a grounded and practical look at what addiction really is and how it can be treated effectively.
I’m joined by Kevin Cornelius, a licensed marriage and family therapist and clinical director at the Feeling Good Institute Silicon Valley.
Kevin specializes in TEAM-CBT, a powerful and evolving therapeutic approach developed by psychiatrist David Burns.
What I am hoping you get out of this episode, besides learning some of the reasons why people stay addicted, is that you will learn some practical techniques to start taking a small step toward freeing yourself from whichever addiction you might be struggling with.
If, after this episode, you’d like to learn more about the effects addiction has on the brain, do have a listen to the episode I did with Dr. Grisel, titled The Brain on Addiction.
📚The IPS Academy📚
If you feel that you’ve gained some insights and lessons from this video, and you are curious to see what else we offer at The IPS Project, check out The IPS Academy, where we offer online courses taught by guests here on the podcast.
Simply go to https://theipsproject.com/academy. Each course has a few lessons to try for free, so you get a taste of what the course is like. We have countless reviews from other students so you can see what others think, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you end up not liking the course.
Again, check them out at https://theipsproject.com/academy
Stanford psychiatrist Dr. David Burns explains how to cure depression, why antidepressants don’t work, and how to treat depression without meds.
Every 10 episodes on The IPS Podcast, you get to enjoy an original short movie, combining inspirational words from past guests we have had on the podcast.
Addiction and the brain explained by neuroscientist Dr. Judith Grisel, sharing the science of addiction and her recovery story.