I think it's important, while touting the benefits of these meds, to also make it very clear that it is NOT the best course of action for everyone across the board.
While it's true that not every medication will work for everybody exactly the same way it's important for people to realize that the vast majority of people that do take anti-depressants under a doctors supervision benefit enormously. With ZERO side effects - as was my experience and the experience of others I know taking Lexapro.
I honestly think had I taken the medication route a fourth time, I may have attempted suicide.
And I know people who have had their life saved by taking the proper medication under a doctor's supervision. their lives were literally saved.
Weaning myself off of it [Lexapro] both times was hell on earth
BTW - you should never wean yourself off anti-depressant medication. Always follow a doctors supervision.
I offer this up to counter what I see in our culture as a prevailing bias against anti-depressants and the people that take them. Particularly in western culture there is this fantasy of being able to pull yourself up by the bootstraps. That some how you're less of a person by asking for help - and especially less of a person if you take medication for mental health.
There are a lot of people that don't seek out or accept treatment because of the power of that fantasy. Those are people that suffer needlessly because of the horror stories floating around on the internet. I read them too.
None of them were true for me or the others I know taking anti depressants.
Anti depressant medication is not a magic wand. Neither is a computer or thyroid medication or a birth control pill or a colonoscopy. They are tools that can be used to help improve the quality of life.
Find one or two or three good doctors, get their advise, and please don't rule out all the tools at your disposal.