First of all let me stress that, from what I know, each individual may be affected differently depending on their own personal make up and you will only find out by trying yourself.
I suffer from anxiety and this can also lead to outbursts of anger. My GP says I suffer from "anxiety related depression".
My GP eventually agreed to let me try medication and put me on 20mg Citalopram.
Now, although they say it takes time to start working, I started to feel the effects within a couple of days. I became much more aware of the times that I was feeling anxious for no real reason. I could question myself as to why I was feeling anxious and pull myself away from it. I also had much more control over my feelings of anger, again because I could reason with myself much more easily about the way I was feeling and pull away from any emotional outbursts.
For me I've definitely benefitted and I really do think for me that the effects are substantial.
I do have side effects, but I am more than happy to cope with the side effects because of the benefits.
For me, side effects are:
-dry mouth in the morning (but goes off as soon as I get up) I don't really think about this now as I'm so used to it
-to start with, more intense dreams on a night. I found these quite interesting, but they go off after you get used to the dosage (shame).
-there's a possibility that I may be sweating more easily, but I'm also much less bothered by cold weather (this section may be just co-incidence)
-over the longer term, you may be slower to remember to do things that you would have previously remembered just by making a "mental note" - to counteract this I have a diary that I write in anything of importance just in case.
-I feel less intense about situations at work, therefore act less intensly in my work. My GP argues that this can be a good thing. On the whole, I tend to agree.
-for men, difficulty in maintaining an erection. I counter this by having a supply of herbal viagra to hand and planning accordingly (speak to your GP before doing this as there are other things you need to know first). However, there may also be a positive side effect in that you may be able to last longer before climaxing, so not all bad.
For me, I have learned to cope with the side effects and enjoy the benefits.
My personal anxiety problems seem to be of a hereditary nature and I've had to continue with the medication for longer than you would normally. In fact, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able or willing to stop taking it.
But normally you only need to take it for a few months to get you back to normal.
I advise that you monitor yourself closely the first week as it can lead to increased thoughts of suicide in some cases, although this did not happen to me. If you find anything like this happening, go straight back to your GP for assistance. I do not have suicidal thoughts myself (too much to do!).
Hope this helps.