Wow, this is terrifying, but thank you for writing this! I’ve been taking antidepressants for more than two years and the worst I’ve experienced is some initial spike in anxiety when I first began, but I have heard about people becoming suicidal after taking antidepressants.

Even though it’s rare, I think every patient needs to be made aware of the risks. I was only told that a possible side effect could be stomach irritation, but I would have appreciated it if the doctors gave me, say, a pamphlet to read about what to expect. Of course, we then run into the problem of potentially scaring people off from taking a medication that will help them immensely. There remains a big gap in understanding between the medical community and the public at large.