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There seems little reason to prescribe anti-depressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients.

Antidepressants can have troubling side effects and are addictive for some people.

To someone who is not currently on anti-depressants, I would suggest trying other treatments first - for example, psychotherapy.

Perhaps anti-depressants should be best reserved for the very extreme cases and, more importantly, for those who do not respond to alternative forms of interventions.

I suffer from manic-depressive disorder, and I've chosen not to take medication for it. Because of that, every once in a while I go through manic episodes and really depressed episodes.

Psychotherapy works, and some types of therapy have been shown to be much more effective than antidepressants over the long run.

Perhaps 10 percent of patients who are prescribed antidepressants are really benefiting from the drugs' active ingredients.

I was on various anti-depressants, but not for long - I didn't function very well on them. I felt sort of flattened out.

I definitely think that prescription drugs, like antidepressants, are prescribed so cavalierly, anyone can get anything, but I need it. I do think that it needs to work hand and hand with therapy.

When you're clinically depressed the serotonin in your brain is out of balance and probably always will be out of balance. So I take medication to get that proper balance back. I'll probably have to be on it the rest of my life.