Hi Val,

I have a bit of a different opionion on antidepressants than most of those who replied here, I think.
I have only good experience with them. I was on Cipralex/Lexapro for some years and it has helped me a lot.
I had no negative side effects and I reacted very well and fast to it.
I took it for mild depression. I was hesitant to try SSris as well, as I too read a lot of negative stories and how withdrawal would be hard and how you would feel worse after getting off them because your brain would be used to the serotonin and not adjust without it etc.

At the time though I really just wanted to feel better and get that little boost so I could start changing my life situation, taking care of myself, working out more etc, so I took it. And, like I said, I felt better within weeks. Might also have been a placebo effect because I felt like I finally did something to feel better – but I didn’t care.
The main thing is to recover and feel ok again.

My opinion is that it is important to improve the chemical imbalance that the brain suffers from in times of depression, anxiety etc.
because there is such a thing as pain memory, also with the brain. The longer you feel depressed or anxious, the more these patterns or pathways in the brain can manifest themselves and the harder it is to get rid of these neural pathways that have formed.

It is know though that not all antidepressants work for everyone and some people just take longer to find one that is working for them.
Maybe this is also why some people have a bad experience with them.

It is important to have a psychiatrist you can trust and who will explain everything to you. And if you take them do so exactly as your doctor says. Never stop taking them from one day to another, because this is when some “withdrawal symptoms” will occur.

Also, it is not true that ssris are addictive. They are not like benzose or opiates.

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon, no matter your decision to try them or not.