A Doctor put me on Paxil, and one other I don't remember, for depression. The other one gave me dreams where everything was pink and had zig-zag jaggy lines running through everything. Like a bad TV set.
The Paxil made me feel like I was a wooden door with a hole in the middle of my chest. I woke up with the chills every morning. I read the instructions, and it said if you get the chills to stop using it. So, I did. Immediately I STARTED TO FEEL BETTER!!!!!!!
My doctor said, "See, it worked". Sick joke, DOC!!!
The point is these are NOT anti-depressants. They are anti-EMOTION drugs! They suppress, or maybe OPPRESS, the body's emotional center. You don't FEEL. You are DRUGGED. The purpose of a drug is to suppress what is going on, be it pain, anxiety, or whatever.
These drugs are DEAD, INERT CHEMICALS WITH NO CELLULAR BASIS...in other words life. So your body has a HARD TIME ASSIMILATING THEM! That is why they take time to get "USE TO".
HERBS are cellular based life forms. Plants. They have a cell structure that your body recognizes. The body was designed to recognize and digest....FOOD! Other biological life forms.
Not that herbs cannot be narcotic. They can. They ARE. And that is where the DRUG initially comes from. AN HERB! Or other life form, like bacteria, mold, or fungus. But the DRUG is processed into a concentrate of just one or two properties. A synthesis of the herb. So it is much stronger in its effects.
Like the difference between herbal preparations too. An herb is 4 times stronger as a powder. It can be 15 times stronger as a TINCTURE. A Liquid concentrate. That would translate to...1 tsp of herb, powder = 1/4 tsp. Tincture= a few drops.
If you can find an herb that does the same job as a drug, it is more gentle, natural, and more often than not CHEAPER! They can take longer to work, but generally work they do. The difference between drug anti-biotic and herb anti-biotic, is about 10-1. I got a tongue infection. Western anti-biotic 40 bucks. Next time, I got Chinese herb formula from a Chinese Doctor, FOUR dollars! Worked JUST THE SAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But your insurance probably wont pay for it. BUT YOU ARE PROBABLY STILL BETTER OFF!

Be well and happy.
Steve

There is an entity known as serotonin storm syndrome or something like - an adverse reaction to SSRIs eg Citalopram, Prozac etc