[chas]

This isn’t an accurate description of the possible side-effects. Anti-depressants can cause meaningful side-effects including changes to appetite, difficulty regulating body temperature, nausea, changes to sleep, and akathisia. They are also very, very not fun to quit abruptly if you run into an intolerable side-effect. That said, nothing that you said about depression is wrong and the effects of untreated depression can be far worse than the side-effects of anti-depressants. It can just be hard for people to tell what is normal and what is abnormal and potentially caused by their medication, so they should be informed so that they can switch medication if they run into side-effects. (And know if their doctor is not providing them with good information.)

[pasabagi]

Yeah, re-reading my post, I probably should have expanded on the 'if dosed and chosen properly' part. Obviously, if you take the wrong dose, or have an adverse reaction, it's going to not very fun. I recommend talking to a psychiatrist.

That said, my first go-around with anti-depressants was a hugely overdosed prescription of venlafaxine from an overenthusiastic doctor, which is pretty side-effect-tastic, so my eyes were rolling out of my head and I was falling off chairs for a week and it was still far superior to being depressed.

Not taking anti-depressants because you're worrying about the side effects is like not wearing your motorcycle helmet because there might be a scorpion in it. The risk of dying from depression is really high. The risk of suffering from anti-depressants is fairly remote.

[kayodelycaon]

Granted, I’m bipolar, but every person I know in my online support group has had significant side-effects from antidepressants. As well as a few friends with chronic depression.

Antipsychotics are even worse but I’ll take the side-effects over psychosis and paranoia any day.

[idontwantthis]

For the first several months of drugs I had zero sex drive. I talked to the doctor about it and we both agreed that this was 100% tolerable compared to how I’d been without medication. Also that if my opinion on the matter changed, there were other options. Fortunately that side effect eased on its own.