No medication is perfect is meant to be taken over a lifetime, unless as in my case & others like it, that medication is the best we have right now to take over for an absent or malfunctioning organ like a thyroid gland or high blood pressure. Like you, 30 years ago, I was prescribed an anti-depressant that I thought was necessary to take for the rest of my life. I failed to heed the warning of a family friend/physician who advised me to watch carefully how my body, mind, & spirit responded OVER TIME to these psychotropic meds. Since I failed to heed his warning, I threw away all these meds. with disastrous results: almost losing my sanity, job, home. Just 4 years ago, a former psychopharmacology professor turned psychologist suggested that I be weaned off venlafaxine gradually with the help of a holistic psychiatrist who understands the role of spirituality in mental health throughout our lifetime. Thanks to this therapist & finding such a psychiatrist over the last 4 years, I accept full responsibility for partnering with all health practitioners in whatever prescriptions they write for me. As a result of these changes in my attitude toward all health practitioners, I have so far been successfully weaned off all mood-altering meds., take only Synthroid & 2 low-dosage hypertension meds. to help my body address the loss of a thyroid gland from cancer 52 years ago & the family tendency toward hypertension. I'm also a faithful member of Al-Anon for the past 36.5 years - an awesome source of inner & outer peace. Thank you for your question. My life journey has taught me over & over again to listen to my body, heart, spirit rather than assume that all docs know what's best for me. In God & 12-Step spirituality I trust, not docs who prescribe drugs willy nilly. But for the grace of God, I could have died just like any other patient who made a doc their God instead of their Creator.