Treating Depression

What are the first steps toward dealing with depression?

Depression is an illness that allows a person to participate actively in his or her medical care. These are the simple steps for dealing with this condition:

• Recognize the symptoms of depression.
• Realize that depression is treatable. Available therapies are proved to be effective for more than 80% of people with a diagnosis of depression.
• Get help. Talk with a primary healthcare physician about depression and get a full evaluation.
• Get a treatment plan and learn how to participate fully in the management of depression.
• Follow the treatment plan. When the doctor prescribes medications, take them as directed.
  • If the medications don't appear to be working, keep taking them on schedule. Medications will often take weeks to reach optimal effect. Note that the belief that nothing is working is itself a characteristic of depression.
  • Once the medications are working well, there may be days of feeling fine and believing that medications can be skipped. Don't stop taking medications; take them on schedule. The medications are one of the major lifelines.
• Track moods and record the medications and self-help strategies used. This will help track progress and identify any problems experienced while trying to gain control over depression.

In addition or as an alternative to medications, various forms of psychotherapy may be used to treat depression.

To learn more about depression, go to depression topics.