Treatment with antidepressants
If the cause of your depression is obvious and can be treated quickly and effectively in some other way, you may not need medication.
In many cases there is no clear-cut cause or there are several possible causes and medication is a quick and effective means of treating depression.
The goal of the treatment is to treat your symptoms - in the same way as insulin will treat the symptoms of diabetes. Remember that your depression may return if you end your treatment too soon.
Types of treatment
The treatment of depression is divided into three types:
- Acute treatment
- Maintenance treatment
- Long Term treatment
What is acute treatment?
The period between the start of treatment and the suppression of the symptoms of depression is known as acute treatment:
- If you respond to the medication you should feel the symptoms decrease during this time period
- Acute treatment will typically last from two to three months
It is important to remember that your symptoms may improve gradually over 2 to 12 weeks. So we would urge you not to discontinue treatment just because you don't notice any effects after a week. Please be patient - it's for your own good!
Often your friends and family will notice the effects of the treatment before you do yourself, so be sure to listen to them.
The treatment has its greatest impact after four to six weeks. At this stage you may notice a positive difference in how you feel.
To the top
What is maintenance treatment?
Maintenance therapy is defined as taking your antidepressant consistently for at least six months after your depression symptoms have disappeared.
Your mood, your energy and your interest in the world around you may improve. You may be able to return to work and other activities. Maybe you may begin to live your life just like you did before the depression kicked in. It's now important that you don't have a relapse. The best way of avoiding this is to:
- Continue antidepressant treatment
- Continue at the same dose
Why continue the drugs for so long?
Depression is a serious and distressing illness and won't just go away of its own accord after a week in bed.
If you are not treated for depression, it may last between six to twenty-four months. This is an awfully long time and may bring a great deal of suffering.
We can't stress enough that if you stop taking your medication during this time you run the risk of getting depressed again (relapsing).
We recommend that you continue treatment at the same dose (as prescribed by your doctor) for approximately a year after your symptoms have gone.
When you do discontinue your treatment after this year, we recommend that you phase out your antidepressant medication gradually over a period of one or two months. Your doctor can advise you more about this. Any sudden discontinuation of treatment may result in a relapse or discontinuation symptoms, which may not be pleasant. Why take risks with something as important as your life?
To the top
What is long-term treatment?
Fortunately future episode of depression may be avoided through long-term treatment. This may allow you to:
- Lead a normal life
- Attend to the needs of your family, education and employment
The purpose of long-term treatment is for you to avoid future depressive episodes.
If you have had several bouts of depression already, long-term treatment is especially important. The more depressive episodes you have had, the more likely it is you will have another.
Long-term treatment may last for the rest of your life, especially for very severe depression, which may be life-threatening. You may see this as something negative but we would advise you to think of the benefits of any long-term treatment. The good thing is that treatment is available and that you may be able to avoid ever having another episode of depression.
Why have long-term treatment?
- If you've had one bout of depression, there is roughly a 50% risk of having another at a later date. In this case long-term treatment should last for approximately one year after the acute phase.
- If you've had three or four bouts of depression, unfortunately the risk of having another is very high (90%). In this case long-term treatment should last for at least five years and sometimes even a lifetime.
- This treatment should involve the same medication and dose that was effective during your acute treatment.
To the top