Antidepressants are a tool used to manage a disease. They don't make you "happy", they control chemical imbalances and "even" you out enough that you are in control and able to attack the cause of the problem with talk therapy and other tools, coping mechanisms and strategies. They're not suitable for everyone, and they should be used in conjunction with talk therapy.
I have a mental health condition that, amongst other things, has depression as part of the diagnostic criteria. Some of the older peeps here may remember that. I was on medication for years, and it helped soften the extreme highs and lows that made it impossible for me to focus on therapy. I then went through therapy, and am now off meds and have been for a year now. They didn't "control" me. In fact, they made it possible for me to control myself.
I've seen a lot of ignorance, aggression and downright bullshit in this thread. If you want your viewpoint to be respected and listened to, how about you talk like a civil human being instead of insulting everyone that is responding to you (HUGE props to Harvey, by the way, truly excellent posts in the face of aggression). If you have such a problem that you cannot conduct such a discussion without resorting to aggression and insults, maybe you're the one with the problem and maybe you should consider getting therapy. It is good stuff, and maybe you'll become someone people will actually ENJOY debating with.
