Your experience deserves to be heard

SAD admin December 5, 2025No Comments

Antidepressant Experience – Loved Ones & Lived Experience

This form is collecting stories and data that may be shared in aggregate and/or as testimony to lawmakers in the future. By submitting, you consent to being contacted about your responses.

Contact Information First Name*:

Last Name*:

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Preferred Contact Method:

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Section 1 – Medication Information

1. Which one were you taking? (Select all that apply)

Venlafaxine
Zoloft (Sertraline)
Paxil (Paroxetine)
Celexa (Citalopram)
Lexapro (Escitalopram)
Mirtazapine (Mirt)
Other:

2. Why were you put on this medication?

3. Was informed consent given?

Yes
No
Not sure

Section 2 – Relationship & Life Impact

4. Were there problems in your relationships while on this medication?

Yes
No

If yes, please describe:

5. Did you lose close personal relationships while on this medication?

Yes
No

If yes, which relationships? (e.g., spouse, fiancé, child, friend, parent)

6. Did you lose a job while on this medication?

Yes
No

If yes, please describe:

7. Did you reinterpret how others felt about you?
(For example: believing they didn’t care, didn’t love you, or were against you.)

Yes
No

If yes, what did that look like?

8. Did you feel more irritated than usual?

Yes
No

Section 3 – Relationship Perception Shifts (Before vs After)

This section is about how your beliefs about people in your life changed on the medication. Example: “Before: My mother supported me. While on the medication: My mother never supported me / was against me.”

a) Mother (or mother figure)

Before medication, I believed:

While on the medication, I believed:

Now (looking back), I see it as:

b) Father (or father figure)

Before medication, I believed:

While on the medication, I believed:

Now (looking back), I see it as:

c) Romantic partner (spouse / fiancé / girlfriend / boyfriend)

Before medication, I believed:

While on the medication, I believed:

Now (looking back), I see it as:

d) Children (if applicable)

Before medication, I believed:

While on the medication, I believed:

Now (looking back), I see it as:

e) Close friend or other important person

Relationship (who?):

Before medication, I believed:

While on the medication, I believed:

Now (looking back), I see it as:

10. Do you feel the medication made you see others as less supportive, less loving, or “against you”?

Yes
No
Not sure

If yes, please share specific examples (e.g., “I started to believe my mother never supported me”):

Section 4 – Internal Experience

11. Did you know you were “spellbound” (unable to see clearly that the drug was affecting your thinking/feelings)?

Yes
No
Not sure

12. Did you feel different, like “not yourself”?

Yes
No

If yes, how would you describe it?

13. What did it feel like to “wake up” (realize what was happening or come off the medication)?

14. What is something you would want others to know about this experience?

Section 5 – Withdrawal & Physical Effects

15. Did you experience withdrawal symptoms?

Yes
No

If yes, please list them:

16. Did you experience protracted (long-lasting) withdrawal?

Yes
No
Not sure

17. Did you notice drug-induced symptoms (new symptoms that started after the medication)?

Yes
No

If yes, please describe:

18. Did you experience weight gain?

Yes
No

If yes, approximately how much?

Section 6 – Tapering / Current Medication Status

19. Are you tapering or stopping the medication? (Select all that apply)

Tapering with doctor assistance
Hyperbolic tapering
Tapering with help from peer groups / those who have “been there, done that”
Cold turkey (stopped suddenly)
Not tapering (still on full dose)
Other:

Section 7 – Mood & Thinking

20. Were you depressed before starting the medication?

Yes
No
Not sure

21. Did the depression get better on the medication?

Yes
No
Not sure

22. Did you experience a shift in thinking (how you saw yourself, others, or your life)?

Yes
No

If yes, how would you describe the shift?

Section 8 – Current Status 23. How are you now?
(Emotionally, physically, relationships, work, etc.)

Thank you for sharing your experience. Your voice is part of a larger effort to show patterns of harm and call for safer prescribing, informed consent, and real accountability.

Last updated on December 18, 2025