A variety of reasons. First and foremost, the side effects were typically worse than the benefits. For example, I was on Effexor XR for a year. The side effects from that included a lovely bubble sensation in your brain, sort of a cranial pressure that literally feels like your brain is growing too large for the skull it's contained in. The worst side effect, though, hits when you forget to take it. You get these things called "brain shivers" where moving your eyeballs causes an electric shock sensation in your brain. The more days you miss, the worse this gets, to the point that you are unable to get out of your bed because the slightest movement of your head results in a mildly painful shock.

Zoloft, on the other hand, is much more mild, but didn't really put a dent in it.

The benzo's were helpful, but are highly addictive. I still carry Klonopin around with me for those times when it's real thick, but I only use it as a last resort.

The most beneficial thing, for anyone suffering from anxiety, is CBT therapy as it teaches you a set of tools for navigating the anxiety and minimizing the impact of panic attacks. To me, that's far more sustainable than being a guinea pig for Pfizer. With CBT, you learn how to tackle it head on and come out on top. It takes some time, but it's doable.

For anxiety, in general, I see the AD's being used until you get to a point with CBT that you can handle it without. The long term impact of AD's are still unknowns, and their efficacy is constantly challenged. If you can get control without that dependancy, the better off you'll be. That's just my opinion though.

As for the marijuana, it took some trial and error to discover what worked there. In the last six months or so, I smoke significantly less than I used to, in fact I haven't smoked probably in the last three months, save a few times at parties or hanging with friends and playing Killzone 2. It has it's own set of problems though, but in contrast to all the other medications I've been on, it's been the most effective with the least side effects.

I can speak for myself. Wellbutrin made me paranoid, and Lexapro and Effexor had less serious but still life-altering side effects. Neither were worth the minor improvement in mood. (Further, they just make me incredibly apathetic.)

I'm glad that anti-depressants work for others, but I'm not willing to spend years going from side effect to side effect just to find the right drug which will probably stop working after a while.

Lexapro had no side effects for me, except for mild, short-duration panic episodes when I was going to sleep, mostly during the first week. (If you have anxiety, the first week of an SSRI is known to suck.) The first three nights I had to take Klonopin (clonazepam) and by the end of the second week there were no side effects.

First, it's dangerous to give up psychotropics without a doctor's plan of attack. People that commit suicide and who take them are often found to be going cold-turkey when the incident occurs.

Second, I've found that when I've lived where pot is legal, that it has a similar effect for me. When I was really tightly wound at the end of the day, it helped me relax, shift my perspective and I could usually fall asleep in minutes.