Count me among those who wouldn't be here if it weren't for anti-depressants.
There was a time when my brain chemistry was so far out of whack, "facing reality," as you say, to me meant following through with plans to commit suicide. I firmly and truly believed that the world would be a better place without me, that I had no friends, and that my family would feel only relief when I was gone.
How lucky I am that I gave myself one last-ditch effort by pursuing the medication route. I would have missed out on 23 more years of a varied and rewarding life had I continued to believe that my only option was to "suck it up and face reality."