Symptoms: Brain zaps, sexual dysfunction, tinnitus, weight gain
I was on and off antidepressants from the late 90s until 2016. My symptoms are nowhere near as severe as those described in these stories, but they're not nothing. Tinnitus for nearly 15 years. I don't remember what silence sounds like. Sexual dysfunction while on the meds. Considerable weight gain.
Turns out there's nothing wrong with my neurotransmitters, I just had a lousy time growing up. There was no suggestion that this might be the case, only the meds were pushed. No testing, just take this. Oh, that didn't work? Try this one. How about this? Its side effects include gaining fifty pounds. Maybe this one? It could give you tardive dyskinesia at some unknown point in the future.
And, with few exceptions, they didn't work. I think what little help they gave was because I had some hope that they would, which eventually wore off. On top of all this, I read that they're no more effective for most people than placebo, but placebos don't give people nasty side effects while making pharma companies stupefyingly rich.
Not being warned about potential symptoms is one thing. Not being tested to see if my neurotransmitters were out of whack is quite another. These drugs are being pushed on people who hope for a better life in order to squeeze money out of them, out of us.
Here's the proof that it's a money grab: every time the patent expires on one of these quackeries, they adjust the formula slightly (Effexor replaced by Pristiq, Celexa by Lexapro, etc.) in order to artificially extend their usefulness, and they quit pushing the old meds that are now available generically.