It has always been known amongst those who do comparative analysis for drug interaction.
The SSRIs had been found to work primarily on their anesthetic effect, but not as advertised that they chemically rewire the Dopamine/Serotonin within the brain.
The older drugs have been found to work well, but only in cases of extreme mental instability.
Diet and vitamins have been found to be more efficacious in dealing with depression as it allows the body to chemically re-balance itself, bear in mind this is mild to severe depression. Extreme to mentally crippling depression requires blocking drugs, as this type can lead to suicides.

Anti-depressants DO work.

The drug companies white paper on efficacy said they function just slightly above placebo levels.

So if someone knows better than the drug companies, please produce the evidence. (a white paper will do)

The problem is many Americans are so susceptible to the marketing ad men that they never read the science before believing, but these drug companies run in problems when they face the German and UK medical boards.
One can sell a tablet that will extend certain parts of the body, and become a millionaire, people allow themselves to be easily duped. (How can a tablet extend body parts is it a magic pill that does molecular recombination of the body?)

These drug companies have shown in their research papers that the SSRIs do not work much better than sugar pills, and they use marketing to convince the public that it's a miracle drug.
In fact the side effects are more effective than the promoted effects.

I know what works for me. That's all I'll say. I realize you know EVERYTHING, but I'm speaking from first hand knowledge. For me anti-depressants are life saving drugs. You can believe what you want. Take them or not. It doesn't matter.

Antidepressants do work. SSRIs are aight but hey, they saved my life. Every time I've gotten off of them, I relapsed within 2 months. I'm 24 and have had 5 relapses (6 episodes) of major unipolar depression. For me, it is obviously chemical. I completely changed my lifestyle, essentially eliminating all the demons and debauchery that every college student and 20-something should experience. Exercise. Take multivitamins. Buy organic food. Took sam-e, fish oils, did pretty much every type of therapy available. I didn't want to be on medication unnecessarily. It makes your liver work overtime, but you know what? If I get off of them, I won't be around to enjoy that fab liver anyway.

Please understand my frustration and total intolerance to opinions I read the things I wrote during these periods of depression, especially before I was ever diagnosed, and it's so morbid that it frightens me. I can recite several suicide notes from memory. My favorite one is Carter Cooper's, Gloria Vanderbilt's son and Anderson Cooper's brother; I liked reading his mom's description of him jumping out their window like a gymnast. I'd watch suicide scenes in movies over and over again (favorite: Royal Tenenbaums, cuts hair, trims long facial hair, shaves, cuts self with razor, blood gushes and he passes out. "Needle in the Hay" by Elliot Smith is playing which I liked because Elliot Smith may have committed suicide and I thought it was "so f–king hilarious" when Dudley walks in and screams). I know that antidepressants work because when I read about someone's suicide now, I don't want vivid details and I don't laugh at them like I used to. There were no future plans. I had a horrible time while trying to find one that suited me and I am constantly afraid that this one will stop working because that happened to me before. There's nothing on the market that I haven't tried at one point or another.

Please understand my total frustration with articles like these and totally uninformed opinions like that of "Truth Teller." People are down for a short period of time due to an actual problem in their life, exercise, eat right, feel better and preach about how they cured their depression. Think of the many people who don't have a reason to be depressed, take good care of themselves physically and spiritually. When you're in this position and after using every bit of strength and will power you have to go to the gym, eat right, sleep for the appropriate amount of time, get up when you want, use CBT techniques to change your thinking, etc., yet the highlight of your day is fantasizing about death, then what? You're fortunate enough to not have this horrible disease so end the B.S. because it's things like this that add to the stigma and people avoid treatment. Yes, doctors are too quick to prescribe. Some give it "just in case" to people going through divorce. That's a sign that you need a new doctor. On the other hand, it is seldom diagnosed and people waste far too many years of their lives merely existing because of it. No, we don't fully understand it and we should but that doesn't mean that people shouldn't get help from medications that have been proven effective though their effectiveness is often overstated. It's obviously genetic for some (Hemmingways, Amy Tan's family,
For others, it's due to changes like childbirth (Brooke Shields) or illness (Isabella Blow). For others like me (and Donny Hathaway, Jim Carey, etc), it happens out of the blue for no particular reason and comes back again if you're fortunate enough to have gotten treatment to begin with.

excuse whatever typos and length. it turned into a much longer rant than I had planned and I'm tired.