Scott,
Here's my own experience to add to that of others. Twenty-some years ago, during a particularly difficult time in my life, I began counseling with a psychologist (who was excellent). Her concern was that as time went by, the signs of significant depression weren't lessening and I did a consultation with a psychiatrist.
He recommended Prozac, a SSRI. I remember him telling me that if a patient had a sore throat, an antibiotic might be prescribed -- not to make the throat feel fabulous but return it to a more normal state. That made sense to me and I decided to go on Prozac, which helped tremendously. (The heavy drinking, which evolved into alcoholism, came later. That's another story, though I cannot help but wonder what I did to my poor brain, flooding it with a depressant as I did.)
Some time later, I read somewhere that a person with depression described going on an anti-depressant as akin to feeling as though she'd been driving with the emergency brake on all the time and then, finally, driving normally. That was what my experience was like. I'm glad that I did it.
There will be an anecdote (and horror stories, as EndGame notes), for better or worse, for nearly anyone's experience with anti-depressants. The important thing is for you to determine whether it is working and alert your physician immediately if you're experiencing dark side effects. I think counseling is a good idea, too. It doesn't have to be one or the other.
One question: Are you getting exercise? In all honesty, I think that the commitment I've made to regular exercise has helped me mentally and emotionally as much as anything. In fact, I'm off to the gym now.
Take good care and thank you for being a good friend to the SR community.