Every intervention Outliyr has scored for depression, ranked by its BioHarmony score for this use case rather than its overall rating. The number beside each name is how well that one thing works for depression; the tier beside it is what it is worth once safety, cost and effort are counted across everything else.
40 of 85 evaluated interventions score 3.0+ out of 10 for depression · 7 comparisons
Mechanistically, Saffron scores 7.8/10 for depression because the evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Mahmoudi et al. 2026 is the best anchor here because it reports…
Read the Saffron report →Infrared Sauna's 7.5/10 depression score starts with Hamaya 2025, then gets narrowed by the evidence gap. The existing rationale points to this narrower claim: Repeated heat exposure has a credible mood signal…
Read the Infrared Sauna report →HRV Biofeedback reaches 7.0/10 for depression when the goal matches the population in Lehrer & Gevirtz 2014. Pizzoli 2021 meta-analysis of 14 RCTs (n=794): random-effects Hedge's g = 0.38, p = 0.0006.…
Read the HRV Biofeedback report →Neurofeedback reaches 6.5/10 for depression when the goal matches the population in Enriquez-Geppert et al. 2026. Depression evidence is mixed and more often adjunctive than primary. Real-time fMRI and EEG protocols can…
Read the Neurofeedback report →The practical depression read on Zone 2 Cardio is 6.5/10 because Kodama 2009 anchors the strongest signal. The existing rationale points to this narrower claim: Aerobic exercise can be a meaningful adjunct…
Read the Zone 2 Cardio report →Depression is a 6.5/10 fit for Vagus Nerve Stimulation, based on the evidence summarized in Zhang et al. 2026. Implanted VNS has the strongest depression pathway; older and newer sham-controlled trials are…
Read the Vagus Nerve Stimulation report →The depression case for Omega-3 lands at 6.5/10 because the evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Appleton et al. 2021 is the best anchor here because…
Read the Omega-3 report →The main limitation behind Celebrex (Celecoxib)'s 6.0/10 depression score is that the evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Zeng X et al. 2026 is the best…
Read the Celebrex (Celecoxib) report →TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) looks most relevant to depression at 6.0/10 because Snyder 2016 reports T Trials main paper, n=790; sexual-function benefit, some mood/depressive-symptom benefit, no primary vitality or walking-distance benefit. Zarrouf…
Read the TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) report →The current evidence assigns Tirzepatide a depression use-case score of 5.7 / 10, based on the absence of any depression-specific randomized trial Franco 2025. Tirzepatide may influence depressive symptoms indirectly through substantial…
Read the Tirzepatide report →The evidence base assigns Norwegian 4x4 a 5.5/10 rating for depression, reflecting modest support from high-intensity interval training studies such as Poon et al. 2024. Norwegian 4x4 involves four four-minute bouts at…
Read the Norwegian 4×4 report →PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy) belongs in the 5.5/10 range for depression because the signal is conditional. Depression evidence is limited to a small transcranial research signal and is not equivalent to…
Read the PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy) report →Methylene Blue earns 5.5/10 for depression because Rodriguez 2016 is the cleanest verified anchor for this report. The existing rationale points to this narrower claim: Depression stays at v0's modest score because…
Read the Methylene Blue report →Glycine depression earns 5.0/10 because Soh 2024 anchors the most relevant signal. Glycine fits depression because glycine participates in sleep signaling, glutathione, collagen, methylation, and nervous-system balance, depending on the endpoint. The…
Read the Glycine report →The evidence base for Whole-Body Vibration as a treatment for depression scores 5.0/10, reflecting a low tier of clinical data Wang et al. 2024. No randomized trials directly assess depressive outcomes, so…
Read the Whole-Body Vibration report →Curcumin has a modest antidepressant signal. A 2017 meta-analysis in JAMDA pooled six trials and 377 patients and found a Hamilton depression score improvement (standardized mean difference around 0.34), with a smaller…
Read the Curcumin report →Depression scores 5.0/10 because Semaglutide may help some mood drivers through weight loss and metabolic improvement, but mood adverse reports and reward dampening keep the claim neutral. Moiz 2024 supports weight-loss efficacy,…
Read the Semaglutide report →The main limitation behind Modafinil's 5.0/10 depression score is that the evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response. Jung H et al. 2026 is the best anchor…
Read the Modafinil report →Observational signals in diabetes do not establish metformin as an antidepressant. Chronic B12 depletion can worsen fatigue and mood symptoms, so the depression score remains below neutral.
Read the Metformin report →No depression evidence. Ca-AKG should not be positioned as a mood intervention.
Read the Ca-AKG (Calcium Alpha-Ketoglutarate) report →No direct depression evidence was verified. Protein adequacy can support general health, but EAA supplements are not depression treatment.
Read the Essential Amino Acids report →Unipolar depression evidence is weaker than the bipolar-adjunct signal; the meta-analytic effect is small and pulled mainly by bipolar trials per Fernandes 2016.
Read the NAC (N-Acetylcysteine) report →Elderly mood benefits appear as secondary outcomes in older cognitive trials such as Maggioni 1990 and Cenacchi 1993. PS is not studied as a primary depression treatment.
Read the Phosphatidylserine report →Depression evidence is positive but thin, and the anhedonia concern complicates the use case. Nagano 2010 and Vigna 2019 support symptoms, not diagnosed major depression treatment.
Read the Lion’s Mane report →INSUFFICIENT_EVIDENCE for depression benefit, and no clinical mood-disorder program supports scoring beyond weak exploratory interest.
Read the Rapamycin report →Adjunct only. Moshfeghinia 2024 supports limited psychiatric-symptom improvement, but there is no strong depression-monotherapy evidence and no guideline endorsement.
Read the L-Theanine report →Depression scores 4.0/10 for traditional sauna specifically. The widely cited rapid antidepressant result came from infrared whole-body hyperthermia in Janssen 2016, not a Finnish dry sauna, so it cannot be transferred here.…
Read the Traditional Sauna (Finnish Dry-Heat) report →Depression scores 4.0/10 on indirect cohort and dietary-pattern evidence (Mediterranean-style eating), not on dedicated polyphenol RCTs.
Read the Polyphenols (Dietary) report →Talbott 2013 included mood-state outcomes but did not establish Tongkat Ali as a depression intervention. Depression-specific RCTs, clinical diagnostic endpoints, and long-term safety data are absent.
Read the Tongkat Ali report →Depression symptom improvements occur in some neurorecovery cohorts. Harch 2011 documents symptom reductions after post-concussion HBOT protocols. Evidence is indirect, comorbid, and small. Do not score HBOT as a primary depression intervention.…
Read the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy report →Modulates dopamine and serotonin systems in animal work; limited direct evidence. No human depression RCT was identified in the audit, so standard mental-health care remains primary.
Read the BPC-157 report →Bromantane is not approved or studied as an antidepressant in humans. The depression evidence base is animal-model only (Tallerova 2011, Tallerova 2014) and should not anchor a clinical depression claim.
Read the Bromantane (Ladasten) report →Depression evidence is indirect. Selank may help anxiety-linked low mood, but there is no adequate primary depression trial, and depression claims should stay adjunctive.
Read the Selank report →General exercise has antidepressant effects, but BFR-specific depression evidence is not a primary finding.
Read the Blood-Flow Restriction Training report →Oxidative-stress/depression biology is relevant, but astaxanthin lacks direct depression RCT support.
Read the Astaxanthin report →Depression remains a 3 because no clinical antidepressant evidence exists. Mechanistic overlap with inflammation and neuroprotection is not enough for a stronger score. Pickart 2012 is supportive background only.
Read the GHK-Cu report →Resistance training has antidepressant evidence, but EMS-specific depression data are not established. Use WB-EMS as an exercise adherence workaround, not as a primary depression intervention.
Read the Full-Body EMS report →No meaningful human RCT evidence for CBD as a depression treatment; preclinical only.
Read the Full-Spectrum Hemp (CBD) report →Espeland 2022 captures a single-case major depression remission report (Van Tulleken 2018) after 4 months of open-water swimming. Kelly and Bird 2022 reviewed contemporary clinical applications and concluded biological plausibility outpaces RCT…
Read the Cold Plunge report →Some KADSS depressive-symptom improvement exists, likely downstream of anxiety relief. No standalone antidepressant trial base; not a depression treatment.
Read the Kava (Piper methysticum) report →Nothing matches those filters.
Head-to-head reports and category rankings that name a winner on this use case.
Bromantane and semax tie at 7.1, and they are the only two in this category scored strong recommend. Selank is third at 6.9 if anxiety rather than focus…
Different jobs, same shelf. Quercetin scores 6.8 and curcumin 6.5, which decides nothing. Curcumin wins joints, inflammatory markers, gut and mood. Quercetin wins allergies, blood pressure, uric acid…
Neither, yet. Both have zero human trials, zero human pharmacokinetics and research-only access. PE-22-28 scores 4.9 and dihexa 4.4, and the gap is entirely safety: dihexa potentiates the…
They solve different problems and the scores hide that. Oxytocin scores 6.5 against PT-141's 5.4, mostly on safety and cost. PT-141 still wins libido 5.5 against 2.5. Oxytocin…
Bromantane scores 7.1 and modafinil 5.9, and they answer different questions. Modafinil is the faster and better-documented wakefulness drug when sleep debt or diagnosed sleepiness is the problem.…
PT-141 scores 5.4 and melanotan II 4.6, and both land in the neutral tier. PT-141 is the defensible one. It targets the brain receptor that drives desire, it…
Traditional sauna scores 7.7 and infrared 7.4. Infrared actually scores higher on 20 of the 23 use cases both are rated on. Buy traditional anyway if hard outcomes…
Saffron, at 7.8 out of 10 for depression. Mechanistically, Saffron scores 7.8/10 for depression because the evidence points to a plausible use case without proving a universal response.
Of the top-scoring options, Glycine is the least expensive at about $2 a month, scoring 5.0 out of 10 for depression.
40 of the 85 interventions evaluated for depression score 3.0 out of 10 or better, which is the cut-off for appearing on this page.
