“Does taking antidepressants for years negatively affect your brain?”

May not be. It depends on the need for medication. If it is needed nagetive effect may not be there.

I don't think so. Realistically if your son need it, better to take medications than not. Antidepressant has very specific mechanism of actions and if there is deficit in the brain of serotonin, norepinephrine or other neurotransmitters, I think it will be detrimental not to take medications. Those medications at least able to maintain level of the important chemical under certain controlled level instead of having defficit of them with the high probability of the unpredictable consequences. Any medications has side effects, however if your son tolerated medications well, it is my strong advise to continue them without interruption. There is old student postulate: if the 1 episode of the problem happened-take medications for 9 month, if 2 episodes happened-take medications for 5 years, if more than 2 episodes-take medications indefinitely.

Not usually. Some people may over time develop some cognitive slowing.

Generally, several years of therapy with an antidepressant should not have a negative impact. If there has been a sudden change in his behavior, you might want to notify the physician who could evaluate you son for a possible reason. Most likely, the physician would consider whether the symptoms are due to the antidepressant. If your son has expressed a concern or desire to stop taking the medication, again, discus that with the physician. A sudden stop in dosing of an antidepressant can have negative consequences.

Some antidepressants can cause very mild memory impairment, mostly that it takes longer to remember names. Usually, these problems are slight. So, if your son is having more than minimal memory problems, you may want to look elsewhere.