Jade Pinkerton says a 'mental fog' descended after she began taking paroxetine. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Mrs Pinkerton said she was put on Prozac in January last year for depression, which she attributes to a stressful job as a social worker. It was the first time the Wellington woman had had any psychological problems and she had never harmed herself nor thought about committing suicide.

The depression lifted, but she had an allergy to an ingredient of Prozac and a GP in October put her on an alternative antidepressant, Loxamine, a generic version of paroxetine.

"Within 24 hours of taking it I started acting impulsively," she said.

Things deteriorated from there.

Outspoken Australian psychiatrist Dr Jon Jureidini, who chairs the group Healthy Scepticism, said he never prescribed antidepressants to those under 25. If their condition was bad enough, he admitted them to hospital. The drugs' risks were too high.