We know that antidepressants are used to treat mental health illness, especially depression. However, as reported in the Independent, a royal family member Thomas Kingston who was prescribed antidepressants, the same medicines, caused a woman to become severely suicidal. She is a 48-year-old woman Lingling Wang, who told The Independent that she was not made adequately aware of the potential effects of taking antidepressants before she was prescribed them for insomnia and mild anxiety last January. She said, "My life is finished – I lost my job, almost all my friends, I’m bedridden, I have to rely on my family to feed me.”She is sharing her story as a coroner issued a warning about the potential effects of medications used to treat depression. Last month, the coroner concluded that Kingston, the husband of Lady Gabriella Kingston, daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, tragically took his own life due to an adverse reaction to antidepressants.Experts believe that this is because antidepressants are "overprescribed" in the UK. This has raised serious concerns over the side effects and difficulties a patient faces coming off the medications.The Independent also found that almost 200 alerts in a decade were made to the UK's medicine regulator over deaths linked to citalopram and sertraline, both of them are antidepressant, which were prescribed to Wang and Kingston.The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has announced the review of safety warnings for 30 antidepressants, which includes citalopram, sertraline and mirtazapine.ALSO READ: Is Elon Musk Struggling With His Mental Health?A Patient's Struggle with Antidepressant Side EffectsMs. Wang, from Surrey, shared her experience with antidepressants, which began when her NHS GP prescribed mirtazapine. Despite this treatment, her insomnia persisted, and she developed severe anxiety and low mood. She was then advised to taper off mirtazapine, a process she described as difficult and anxiety-inducing, before transitioning to citalopram.On citalopram, she reported feeling as if her brain had “completely frozen.” This led to another tapering process and a prescription for sertraline, which worsened her symptoms. Feeling overwhelmed and unsupported, Ms. Wang flew to China to stay with her parents, where she received care from a psychiatrist who helped her discontinue the medication safely. She stated she might not have survived without this intervention.Need for better patient warningsMs Wang has also joined her voice with Lady Gabriella Kingston, to advocate for better patient warnings about the side effects of antidepressants. She also emphasized the importance of patients being fully informed about the risks associated with these medications. What are the side effects?The common side effects include: nausea vomiting, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, low sexual drive, dry mouth, blurred vision, and could increase risk of bleeding by affecting platelet clotting. It also can interfere with blood sodium levels, which can cause headaches, confusion, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness. Unable to moderate these symptoms, one can feel worse by antidepressants. This is why advocacy and awareness around it is important.