WA residents discuss their experiences taking antidepressants

When we asked readers about their experiences taking antidepressants, more than 400 responded.

Many said the medications have helped them stay afloat and deal with mental health challenges, but others said they'd experienced negative side effects. Withdrawal symptoms when stopping the drugs were debilitating, many respondents said, especially when they stopped abruptly. (Experts recommend working with a provider to make a plan to reduce dosage gradually.)

More than one-third of U.S. adults say they have taken antidepressants at some point in their lives, according to data published this year in the journal BMJ Mental Health. In Washington, 13.6% of adults say they currently take antidepressants, and an additional 17% say they have taken them previously.

The prescriptions have been of heightened interest since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this month announced initiatives to reduce what he called the overprescription of antidepressants. Kennedy has focused on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants, often also prescribed for anxiety disorders.

We talked with four Washingtonians about their experiences taking antidepressants. We are only using their first names to protect their privacy.

'Just felt happy again'

Elizabeth, 39, was working in reproductive healthcare as an attorney when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Suddenly, "every single day was a crisis," the King County resident said. Her father had also been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and work demands were interrupting her time with him.

When she started thinking about suicide, she discussed options with a provider. After starting on Lexapro (escitalopram), she picked old hobbies back up and "just felt happy again," she said. When her father died, she increased her dosage.

In 2024, curious if she still needed the medication, she abruptly stopped taking it. But her depression symptoms came back: isolating herself, sleeping all day, having trouble finding joy.

With the support of her provider, she went back on Lexapro and plans to continue taking it.

"It's keeping me at a good baseline," Elizabeth said. "I still have a lot of stressors in my life and feel like this world is going to hell in a handbasket. I'm still dealing with the death of my father, and I think that's going to take some time."

'I don't really know what I'm like without them'

Roger, 78, knew depression ran in his family, but it wasn't until 2009 that the college professor experienced it himself. He was dealing with several stressors when he started noticing insomnia and fits of anger, he said. He decided with his doctor to try antidepressants.

He tried Zoloft (sertraline) and Prozac (fluoxetine), but experienced diarrhea and other side effects. They also just didn't seem to work, he said.

He saw fewer side effects taking Wellbutrin (bupropion), which targets different brain chemicals than SSRIs. He's kept taking it and said it has helped his marriage and career. It's continued to keep him "on an even keel" now that he's retired, he said.

But antidepressants have also muted some of his feelings, and after almost 20 years, "I don't really know what I'm like without them anymore," he said. He'd like to reduce how many medications he takes, but can't stop others he's on.

"In theory, I could quit the antidepressants, but I'm worried about what would happen if I did," Roger, who lives in Kirkland, said. "It's pretty likely I'd have some withdrawal problems. I'm pretty much committed to taking them."

He also worries about ramifications from Kennedy's comments.

"During the period I've been taking them, the stigma has gotten less as more and more people take them," he said. "What worries me is that those people who are now vilifying antidepressants are creating a new kind of stigma with them."

'I can tread water'

Aly, 59, realized taking antidepressants was "the next step" in treating her depression in the early 1990s.

She was seeing a therapist and practicing cognitive behavioral therapy skills, but wanted to get to the root of the chemical imbalance she suspected was causing her depression. Her therapist referred her to a prescribing provider, who asked about family history. Aly remembered her father had taken Zoloft, and it had seemed to work; the provider recommended trying it.

For a few days, she felt "drugged," she said, but then started feeling better. She could control her emotions and function normally. "Whatever crap was keeping me down was lifted," said Aly, who works in higher education in Seattle.

She continued taking Zoloft until she got pregnant. (Zoloft and some other SSRIs are considered generally safe during pregnancy.) Her doctor later suggested she try Lexapro, which had been approved more recently.

At one point, wondering if she still needed the medication, she worked with her doctor to taper off. Withdrawal side effects weren't drastic, she said, just annoying: especially an "electric shock" feeling in her brain.

She realized she was feeling depressed again without the medication.

Now, still taking Lexapro, she experiences some side effects, like trouble recalling the right word when she's performing as an actor. If she misses a dose, she feels the "electric shock" again.

But overall, "It really helps keep me above water," Aly said. "I can tread water. I can even find a way to get up higher above the water."

'The consequences can be severe'

Anne, 41, started taking Lexapro in 2015 after a major depressive disorder diagnosis during "a really, really bad time in my life," she said.

It took a couple of days to adjust to the medication, but after a few weeks, "I really started to know something was working," she said. But she felt the medication was muting her feelings too much.

After about 12 weeks, she felt she was coping better, and the situation that had caused stress was improving. She decided to stop taking her Lexapro completely.

By the third day off the medication, the withdrawal symptoms were so bad she couldn't get out of bed. She was dizzy, nauseous, sweaty and unable to sleep. The symptoms continued for four or five days.

Years later, a psychiatrist recommended Prozac for a range of physical symptoms. She stopped taking it after receiving a perimenopause diagnosis and starting hormone replacement therapy, which resolved her concerns.

This time, withdrawal symptoms lasted almost two weeks.

"I wish I'd known how bad the withdrawal was going to be," Anne, who lives in Covington, said. "Nobody was ever up front about that. I think there needs to be more help for people going through withdrawal for medication like this, because the consequences can be severe."

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