Thanks for this. Just got into a very frustrating discussion with someone who believes antidepressants are useless and even dangerous, and that it's normal to be depressed and depression is NOT an illness.

The only think that has made a dramatic difference for me is medication. Therapy helps. Supportive family and friends help too. But the difference between meds and no meds is like the difference between light and dark. When I first went on Effexor after about 10 days it literally felt like someone flipped a switch in my head and suddenly I was normal. I thought, oh, THIS is how it feels to feel normal! Seriously!

The meds don't make me feel drugged. They make me feel like me. I feel drugged off the meds.

I don't think people understand what depression is. You wouldn't say "I don't believe in Chicken Pox" but people say all the time "I don't believe in depression or antidepressants." It's aggravating.