I didn't even know I was depressive until my mid 30's...when apparently (according to stats from the shrink I visited) a lot of people manifest symptoms. Mine were sudden panic attacks, which when they happened first, I thought I was dying so I called 911 for nothing and was told there's nothing wrong w/my heart even though I felt chest pains/tightness (a common occurence w/MDD, but who'd know, right?)...which then got worse over time, despite what I did, exercise, vitamins, supplements, sleep, drinking, and other things I won't name, only because I (formerly) despised psychiatry as a profession and thought it was gobbledy gook.

For reason I won't outline here, someone strongly suggested, after having fought this unsuccessfully for quite some time and needlessly suffering, that I visit a psychiatrist because in his view, I had MDD. This is someone I truly trusted and he apparently dealt with his MDD in the past, so I was like, ok, I'm at the end of my rope so I'll give the MD a shot.

The best way to describe what happened few months down the road after a few trial/errors to see which SSRI fits me best (and that's how everyone finds out - trial/error, any doctor worth his salt will admit this- or they lie to your face if they say otherwise), is a persistent feeling developed, or I should say, resurrected only because I forgot how it felt to feel normal since I was a kid - of being lifted out of a deep hole that I seem to have been in for years, if not decades.

All the b.s. about sexual dysfunction they petrify guys with - for me was not true, in fact, it was quite the opposite as I regained control over that aspect of my life, rather than desensitizing myself with some activities which may have eventually led to ED, despite some "logic" that was telling me that I was doing the "right thing" ...

I could focus better at work, I was calmer in general with my wife, kids, and was more chipper and lit up overall. It's not a high or a dependency...to test it, I stopped, went through what one might call a "withdrawal", but then the MDD kicked back in in full force after a few months of being off it.

Since then, I went back on and decided it is much more important to be productive and focused on an SSRI, than a panic-induced, anxious, crying fits, lost mess without it.

So do SSRIs work? They worked for me - in conjunction with some therapy. Do they address the EXACT cause of depression? Unlikely. MDD is multi-causal, some nurtured by choice, some genetically inherited, no one really knows... but SSRIs treat it well enough in many cases.

Don't dismiss anything out of hand - would be my advice. Depression (clinical, not just depression cause you lost your job or gf/bf - which tends to go away) is real and it is sucks big time. Mine was classified as MDD of moderate to severe character...and I asked the doc, what's really severe - his response was, curling up into a ball on the couch and not being able to function. Some are worse and potentially self-destructive...(i.e. suicide). There is help...SSRIs are just one of many ways to treat this. Point is to reach out for help when someone points it out to you - if you trust them, and you've struggled w/it long enough to the point of unmanageabiility. Study upon study show high causality between SSRI therapy and major reduction of MDD symptoms...

good luck!