There's a real catch-22 here...
An active diagnosis would I think preclude any medical, and definately a first class. Also any prescription anti-depressant (MAOI, SSRI) would also preclude a medical...in fact I think you have to be symptom free and off meds for 6 months in order to get a medical.
Also, a history of recurring clinical depressions might cause problems with the FAA, and will be a HUGE problem for many airlines. For this reason there are pilots out there who may have been treated in the past who feel they cannot seek any further assistance from the traditional medical establishment for fear of losing their livelyhood, either temporarily or permanently.
You might want to check with this company (or another aviation medical consultant) so that you understand all the issues and ramifications before you initiate a bureaucratic process which you cannot control:
http://www.aviationmedicine.com/
Depending on your situation, your doctor may be able to work with you to avoid prescriptions that would be problematic. Depending on how you feel, there are a number of things you can do without meds or doctors that may help in the long run:
- Eat healthy
- Reduce stress in your life
- Minimize the booze, it reduces serotonin levels.
- Lose weight
- ANY exercise is good overall, but 45-60 minutes of solid aerobic exercise most days of the week (5-6) definately can help boost serotonin levels.
- There are non-prescription herbal treatments available...I doubt that any are as strong as prozac, but St. John's Wort is well know to be very effective for many folks.
Keep in mind that almost all depression treatments (prescription, supplement, lifestyle) seem to take 3-8 weeks to really start to work. It's a lot harder to restore the serotonin than to maintain it once restored. Even if you need meds to recover from a significant depression, you may be able to use lifestyle changes to stay healthy going forward.