I was prepared to be defensive about this, as I take an anti-depressant (low dose). However, by the time I finished reading objectively, I was cheering. I went to my family doctor in 2006 for insomnia, crying, mood swings, depression, etc. I disclosed to the PA (whom I saw) that my marriage was terrible, I had recently lost a lot of weight, and I had just ended an affair. Any ONE of those things could have explained my mental state, but all three? I mean really! However, she gave me two questionnaires and, based on my answers, declared me to have Bipolar I disorder, and thus began a 6-year nightmare of 75-pound weight gain, zombielike grayness, physical symptoms, and a trashed thyroid, all from the array of medications I took, including, over time, Seroquel, Geodon, Lithium, Lamictal, Cymbalta, Klonopin, Ambien, and Abilify. I lost my dream teaching job because I couldn’t function, and I attempted suicide 4 years after the “diagnosis.”

There are those who benefit from these drugs, absolutely, but what I went through was a hell that still affects me.