Why should people taking antidepressants not drink alcahol?

I think the answer to this one is because of the effect that they have on each other. The other thing is that if you are depressed alcohol can have the effect of depressing your further so with or without antidepressants, they are not a good idea. Your doctor will be able to tell you exactly what the adverse interaction is between any specific medication and alcohol.

In general though, the reason it is often recommended to avoid alcohol while you are on antidepressants and is that alcohol and antidepressants act on the same chemicals in the brain. Naturally, alcohol is likely to counteract the effects of antidepressants. In turn, antidepressants can aggravate the intoxication ability of alcohol. These are some reasons why antidepressants and alcohol consumption should not be mixed with each other.

antidepressant drug is used to treat diverse medical conditions that may be caused by chemical imbalances that affect a specific area of the brain.

There is no doubt that anti depressants in the right place can be a life saver. However they are mostly quite addictive and the person taking them needs to be aware of that and try to come off them as soon as they can. Taken long term they seem to make people a bit zombie like, they certainly did my father when he was prescribed them after a stroke.