I agree they make you something you're not, but only if you're the wrong person to be taking them. Like you said they work for some people but not others. I don't take them, but I know several people who do, and only one has been completely helped by anti-depressants. The others are going through what you mentioned, trying every kind possible to find the right combination etc...
I am not completely against anti-depressants, but I am against the way most doctors prescribe them without hesitation when medication is not what most people need. Most people just need good therapy, not medication. I think a lot of people are against anti-depressants, but they basically self-medicate with alcohol, marijuana, or whatever their choice may be. Sorry, I didn't want to get off topic, but I want you to know that I somewhat agree with you and LLC, just not completely. I blame doctors for being irresponsible.
that's precisely what i was getting at, BB; i know several people (a very, very close friend of mine, actually) who're helped immensely by prescription anti-depressants, & i know people (such as myself) where medication just exacerbates the situation. it's just that incompetent doctors hand prescriptions like candy, as a quick, surefire way to get a patient out of way so they don't have to deal with them too much &, you know, do their job correctly. i'm very well-versed on this subject, not just through personal experience, but i also actually helped my ex-girlfriend write a term paper on this very topic (translation: i wrote the entire thing for her).
i didn't want to get too off topic either, but you can't really expect to bring up a subject like alcohol without at least partially getting into similar self-indulgences.
