ssri's are incredibly dangerous/pain in the ass... find a psych that will actually support your decision to come off meds (i was only like 14, didn't have any help, removed one out of like 1,000 little balls of active in each capsule every day and still got horrible brain shocks and all of the goods)...you're doctor's a complete and total crock a but of a product of the capitalist nature of pharmaceutical and insurance companies nonetheless, so there are too many places to point fingers. In most cases you aren't supposed to be on any meds (there are obvious exceptions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc.), but withdrawal symptoms are 100% completely a result of the medication, not your ORIGINAL need for medication. Honestly, 5-htp, weed, and sam-e are all valid suggestions to aid in thwarting symptoms methinks. Although THC has more of a propensity for cholinergic and dopaminergic systems, so maybe not so much. I would be less afraid of the residual depression and prepare yourself for the intense physical symptoms that accompany coming off. I'm convinced like 90% of psychiatrists are complete douches... they think they know everything about the brain, yet mechanism of action in most drugs is merely theoretical, they'll try every med they have and switch them 10 times, then adjust the doses 10 times, before they change your diagnosis and start over. All of this while big pharma companies get rich and you REALLY get a messed up brain chemistry. It truly is a guessing game as far as psychiatry goes, I think 100 years from now they'll be looking at how we treat psych patients the way we look at how they treated them when they drilled holes in their skulls. I work with people that range from residual schizophrenia to profound retardation and every day I am utterly disgusted when I have to administer meds. I've talked to all of their psychiatrists and its pathetic. A client will have a bad day and say "damn" and up with the risperadrol so we can have happy, obedient, zombies.... ****ing joke.
