Hmmm, sertraline worked absolutely wonders for me - mental health wise I suddenly felt "normal" -the only down side is the lethargy/sleepiness/tiredness and yawning. I found that quite a debilitating side effect. Because of this, (and taking for granted how "normal" I felt) I stopped them (cold turkey albeit). It's been around 2 months. Initially I felt ok- about a month in I had the most unexpected awful return of symptoms. To wrap it up succinctly - it felt like extreme PMT everyday- tearful, irritable, depressed days, high anxiety, overthinking/overanalysing. Hellish. Then I would swing to feeling ok the next day- then bam! Back again. I actually contacted the surgery to request it be added back to my repeat prescription in the midst of a particularly bad day last week. Now I'm regretting it as it's been a good couple of days and I'm dreading reintroducing the lethargy.
Personally for me, I never found talking therapies helpful. My main problem is a tendency to overthink/ overanalyse, added with perfectionism, anxiety and I've always been a slave to my hormones. There's been life issues in the past of course, but they are not things I am able to control or fix right now- therefore anti depressant medication is what works for me if I do need help.
So do not feel disheartened if you do need to be on the medication if it works for you. Coming off of it can induce a return of symptoms (that's my experience) what you have to ask yourself is if taking a little pill once per day Is worse than the alternative? (I can only draw off my own experience)
That being said , there are already some replies that differ from my experience, so it's worth considering that. Wishing you all the best