Perhaps the comparison to buying milk is the result of psych drugs being peddled on television along with bathroom cleanser and shampoo. I don't know. I haven't had cable television for years so I never saw the commercials for psych drugs.

I had been on cetalopram 5 days, had horrendous side effects, and weaned myself off in less than two weeks.

1) Two "good" friends on antidepressants played doctor and bombarded me with the message that I "needed" the drugs. I have since found out that their repeated attempts to get off their antidepressants have failed. 2) My doctor said "trust me."

I trust that the grocery stores where I shop are following guidelines required to keep my food safe, and I trusted that my doctor embraced my health and well-being as top priority.

What I didn't consider was that the Pharma industry is a mega-global industry, with unlimited dollars to reward doctors for dispensing drugs, and money for slick advertising that uses psychological tactics.

There is an old rule to never go to the supermarket hungry. Why? Because when you are hungry everything looks good.

We go to our health care providers hungry for relief. To ask that we think critically when we are in a state of intense mental pain is a tall order.

Of course we don't completely lose our wits, but we trust that a physician who took the Hippocratic Oath to "do no harm" is going to have our well-being as a top priority.

That this isn't so is a shocking eye-opener. The number of people on antidepressants rises. This epidemic needs to be addressed. Even our environment is starting to show the ill effects of these chemicals being flushed out into its waterways.

Why did two people I considered friends insist I needed antidepressants? It was only after I went off the psych drug their tuned changed. They were envious because I had not become hooked. They both had tried numerous times to go off their psych drugs in the past 20 years and found it impossible. The withdrawal symptom I feared the most was "brain zaps." One friend said that if she is a few hours late in taking her antidepressant she experiences brain zaps. Until I read the side effects list and watched youtube videos I had never even heard of brain zaps! My doctor certainly did not mention them. When I said I was concerned in general about withdrawal problems she said, "Trust me." What the hell did she mean? I'll never know.

Everyone I trusted let me down. Looking back, I simply wanted to trust that others knew what was best for me. That was my error.

Some people get relief from the drugs and are willing to put up with the side effects. When I told my doctor I wanted off the drug and that I read that people on cetalopram reported large weight gain in a short period of time with danger of developing diabetes, she said, "Oh, not everyone gains weight. But almost everyone complains of dulled emotions, a flat affect, emotional numbness." Hmmm, okay, doc. Funny you didn't mention any of those things before pushing a prescription into my hand and hustling me out of your office after our 10 to 15 minute session.

Another person on this thread suggested whipping out your smartphone right there in the doctor's office to pull up the side effects. I don't have a smartphone. Anyway, the doctor is sitting right in front of a computer screen and if she wanted to discuss side effects she could have easily pulled up a list on her screen. I daresay any doctor would be pretty offended if you just whipped out your smartphone. Anyway, I just can't picture that scenerio at all... When I go everything is very rush rush.

I came across several youtube videos where people say outright, "Don't look at the side effects lists of your antidepressant, ever. It will only scare you."

Indeed. It will.