[alduin32]

> False dichotomy. The recommendation is for people on SSRIs to also do therapy.

One problem with that is that SSRIs are much more accessible than therapy. In my country, they are fully covered by social security and procuring them is relatively easy, while therapy is too expensive for lots of people.

> If you read further in your [1] you'll see that the rate of side effects is not "in excess of 70%" but lower, and it depends on both the medication and the dose. Switching medications and changing doses is often sufficient to ameliorate some or all of these effects.

In my case, and according to studies I'm not the only one, the side effects can be persistent. Neither the doctors nor the medication's notice warned me of this. If I knew that when I was young, I would have made different choices.

SSRIs did help me, but it cost me a lot, and I still cry about it. Of course, there is no way to know if this is a better outcome for me than what would have happened if I managed to refuse to take them.