I took citalopram for about 2 weeks, I found within a few days I was getting anxious and aggressive, so chose to move onto a different anti-depressant after discussing it with my doctor, and the mental health team in my locality. I actually tried 3 different anti-depressants before finding a 4th that seemed to have bearable side effects and therapeutic value.
Despite being grouped together, SSRIs don't all have the same effects, and will be tolerated differently by different people, so just because you've had a bad experience doesn't mean your friend will.
There's masses of debates about the value of anti-depressenats and their overmedication etc. but as I see it, to get to the stage where you see a GP about the way you feel, you need help.
Being offered a talking therapy somehow (to me at the time at any rate) doesn't feel like you're doing "something" so the feelings of loosing control and hopelessness perpetuate. Taking medication made me feel like even though everything seemed black, I was taking something that was going to help, and give me some control back.
Gaining a little bit of positivity when things seem so dark can be all that it takes to start to do the little things that actually make the biggest differences, like eating properly, exercising, or even just showering in the morning.
I hope your friend starts feeling better soon.
