But for those of us who want to get off this drug but are finding it debilitating due to the side effects, this book gives some promise. It is written by a research fellow of psychiatry and a psychiatrist. It’s worth noting here that the book states that venlafaxine is considered the hardest of the antidepressants to come off due to the incredible withdrawal symptoms. I will personally be researching natural alternatives going forward such as St John’s Wort. I was in a particularly stressful place when I started them but my circumstances have now changed. If going forward I felt the need to take an antidepressant again, I would give this one a wide berth.