I was given several different SSRIs when I was a kid, Paxil being the one I took the longest. My doctor was kind enough to tell me basically nothing other than it might help me. No withdrawal information, nada. Now, this was 7 years ago and the information wasn't quite as well known then as it is now, but considering what we now know I cannot understand that doctors are still giving this crap out. Yes, it helps some people, but at what cost? I just read this on Wikipedia and I'm a bit miffed:
"But experiments with rodents have shown that chronic treatment with SSRIs at a young age results in permanently decreased sexual behavior that persists into adulthood and is similar to PSSD."
Permanent? Greeeeeeat! I can attest to being messed up sexually now, had I not taken anti-depressants that still may have been the case, but I'll never know.
Wonderful, less Tryptophan Hydroxylase = less Serotonin.
"For example, chronic treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac) has been shown to cause persistent desensitization of 5HT1A receptors even after removal of the SSRI."