Did you try or were offered anything else before trying medications?

Yes, >1yr of talk therapy.

Since calling it "talk therapy" might be off-putting to some people, here's my perspective. I've been participating in cognitive-behavioural therapy sessions for 4 months now, and the results have been genuinely astounding - I'm speaking as someone that would previously dismiss such things as nonsense. I've had trouble with sleep for the past 2 years, as in: I can't really recall a week where I slept well, without waking up. I had panic attacks. I had (anxiety-like) difficulties when talking with others that would qualify as a disability. I've had incredible trouble with stress. By now, all of that is nearly gone, just thanks to talking about my problems and figuring out the emotional patterns that are behind them.

Side comment: doing a PhD in a foreign country is no joke. First rule of doing a PhD is: don't do a PhD.

Thanks. Was it same person who also prescribed the medication?

No, I continued to decline and created a plan to end my life. I told my psychologist and she referred me to a psychiatrist to begin a concurrent pharmaceutical treatment to go along with talk therapy.

Good to hear the meds are working for you. Clinical depression is life threatening and no joke to walk around with untreated.

Whatever that treatment might be.