> I have heard SSRIs are hard to come off of SSRIs can have unpleasant discontinuation effects. These don't affect everyone, and they don't affect people in th

> I have heard SSRIs are hard to come off of SSRIs can have unpleasant discontinuation effects. These don't affect everyone, and they don't affect people in the same way. I know people on low dose venlafaxine who struggled. I was on high dose venlafaxine for years and stopped almost overnight with no problems. Currently we think only very small numbers of people ahve severe serious enduring problems coming off SSRIs. It is, of course, totally fine for you to examine the risks vs the rewards of taking medication. Personally, and this is only my opinion, meds saved my life and I am glad they were available to me. You may want to look at an evidence-based talking therapy as well. Cognitive behaviour therapy has good evidence (especially if you do it face to face, one to one, with an experienced therapist). It's a short form therapy so the maximum length of treatment is 21 weeks, but most people need less than that.