As a well-medicated depressive I'll give you my take on this.
If your fuse is so short, you explode in your own face, if you can't sleep, or can't do anything but sleep, if you feel like you've got the flu or have had the flu for months perhaps you should consider anti-depressants.
I really do feel that many forms of depression are due to a lack of seratonin or similar, and therefore it makes sense to take an anti-depressant to correct that imbalance. It's just like a diabetic taking insulin. It pretty much a no-brainer when your life situation is fine, but you feel like above. However, the tricky thing is when your life situation ISN"T fine. I would say it's enitirely appropriate to feel depressed, and I'm not certain that in that situation an anti-depressant is either a good idea or effective. I know that I've had depressing things happen to me since I've been medicated, and I don't think I felt any better about the specific situation. On the other hand, I personally have found that my responses when on medication are more rational, if you know what I mean - I have the ability to work out ways to cope, rather than retiring to bed.
Anti-depressants are not "happy"pills - would that they were, and if you take them when your seratonin levels are normal (here I'm talking about seratonin reuptake inhibitors or SRI's) you can get odd side effects. As an example, I have to lower my dosage over the summer - if I don't I get incredible sugar cravings (whole jar of jam anyone?). Having said that, with one exception, I have never had any truly distastrous side effects - dry mouth, slight headaches when starting a new medication, but that's about it. Dependance - you definitely shouldn't stop taking these things suddenly, and some (I particularly dislike effexor) have fairly poor withdrawal profiles (i.e. it can take a long time to taper the dose) but you're not going to get the shakes or anything. But to not take them if you need them because of a concern over dependance is as silly, in my opinion, as a diabetic not taking insulin because of a fear of dependance. If you need the drug, you need the drug. While you may think it's "common-sense" to hold out as long as possible, I would disagree - symptom management of any organic illness (and that's what depression is) is much more difficult when you've reached a crisis. Even worse, if you really hit the wall, you may not be capable of getting the help you need.
Just my personal opinion, you understand
Love
Jennifer