Depression is

How is it treated?

Depression is usually treated with counseling or antidepressant medicine, or both. It sometimes takes a few tries to find the right treatment, and it can take several weeks for the medicine to start working. Try to be patient and stay with your treatment.

If you have mild or moderate depression, you may be diagnosed and treated by your family doctor and a therapist or psychologist. If you have severe depression or do not respond to treatment, it may be helpful to see a psychiatrist. This is a medical doctor who specializes in mental health problems. Severe cases of depression may need to be treated in the hospital.

Let your doctor know if you believe you are depressed, because depression is often overlooked. If you are diagnosed with depression, you and your doctor can decide on the best treatment. The earlier you are treated, the more quickly you will recover.