I see you've received some good responses. I have some experience with antidepressants, used them for five years. I'd started out on Prozac and it helped me out of a terrible deep pit. Just in time to get diagnosed with breast cancer. I felt it really helped me have the courage because I did what I had to do in spite of {{{{phobias}}},esp. needles. I'd avoided medical treatment my whole life.
I did some research that connected Prozac to cancer in mice and small mammals. I'd read about a new drug Effexor, that helped BC patients with hot flashes from the tx's and from induced early menopause (i was 43). So I switched. I had to keep raising the dose.
I didn't know Effexor was impossible to come off of. And in all my searches I never found info saying you couldn't quit the drug...but after stopping (because I wasn't depressed anymore) I was a complete basket case for a couple of months and then stayed sick physically for a total of EIGHT MONTHS of my life! I had an extended bad case of the flu, only wasn't sick. I was virtually house bound.
The first day I stopped, I didn't have a nightmare for the first time in many years. I had thought I was insane and sought therapy for those nightmares! But now I know that they were side effects. When I remember how I suffered...poor me! Also chronic constipation. I thought that was a side effect of the drugs I had to take for 5 yrs. But it was the Effexor all along.
I don't think the average person can spare 6 months or more of their life just to stop taking a drug. I think most people have to stay on them for life and are treating symptoms and side effects.
That all being said, I'm glad I got myself out of the deep pit. The Prozac helped. I just don't like some of the research. And from what I've read, Effexor is a last ditch drug for those who have tried everything else.
Paxil is also terribly hard to stop. Prozac is said to be the easiest to stop, and it's given to help people get off Effexor, Welbutrin, Celexa and others.
Paxil has research connecting it to breast cancer.
The best site on the web, with forum, is crazymeds.org
Whatever you decide, there are ways to use the stuff wisely and get real help. Just know what you might, or might not be in for.