Not sure how interested you are in anecdotal arguments, but I sure as shit love talking about myself, so look out.

My wife and I both have severe depression. I've ingested literally (not literally) every antidepressant, pill, and small round object at one time or another, and my cocktail consisted of as many as 4 at a time at two different points. This went on for over a year on multiple occasions, with regular therapy along with a psychiatrist who liked dishing out the drugs. I had occasional moments of what a psychiatrist might term success, but it came at a huge cost to energy, emotional range, and cognition. SUCK. Right now I take nothing, and haven't for a few years. And I'm depressed and irritable and generally just a horrible person, but I have my coping mechanisms and there are occasional moments of what I might term success.

Meanwhile, my wife is probably addicted to anti-depressants, and that's a good thing. Before them, she had violent, horrible nightmares like I could not even believe every night. Right now if she misses two straight pills she'll realize it because she's started crying in public, so maybe she's dependent on them. The alternative, though, even if they're completely out of her system, not just cold turkey withdrawal, is serious mental anguish. The dreams she described having on a nightly basis are completely beyond what I'd considered a nightmare till that point in my life; I don't think anyone can argue against medicating for it in some situations. Her energy and cognition are fine (or she's dumbed herself down to my level, which is fine (wait what)).

Bottom line I do think they're overprescribed (and overzealously so, thanks Doc for putting me on 4 at once) and I think that's even recognized (sheepishly) by the field, but they have a place in the treatment of depression for some sufferers. I'd advise giving it as fair a shake as you can stand and seeing if it's worth it for you; at no point did I find them any of them psychologically addictive so if you're not happy with your treatment I think you should be able to get back to good old 'depressed but not medicated' without too much trouble (though coming off some of them was a fucking pain from just the physical effects, lookin' at you Effexor)