It's pretty obvious that antidepressants help people, but I pretty firmly believe they are unnecessary.

Vigorous exercise (morning is better) and time outdoors should be the first thing prescribed to these patients. The former being probably the most important.

I was on and off SSRI's for awhile. Pretty chronically "depressed" through my late teens up to about mid 20's (shocker!). Exercise, talking to someone, and realizing that I am the one who's in control of this has helped me more than any anti-depressant. Similar story with several of my good friends.

The jump to medication in my case was a result of laziness and impatience. Once I got past those two nasty traits, "depression" was a just a bout of sadness that comes when I should feel sad.