The accepted wisdom is that you should wait five weeks at the highest recommended dose before giving up on an antidepressant. Psychotherapy should probably show some benefit within four to eight weeks.
Sometimes it helps to see your doctor and therapist more frequently if your depression is severe or not responding to treatment. This maximizes your access to treatment, and it also gives them a better opportunity to observe your progress. Often, your doctor and therapist can see signs of improvement or deterioration before they are evident to you.
Overall, you and your doctor and therapist should all be able to see some clear, noticeable improvements within two months of starting treatment.
- Can discussing my loved one’s hallucinations help her in any way?
- What types of hallucinations are common?
- Is Stelazine still available?
- What is psychotic depression ?
- What can I do to prepare for my loved one’s release from the hospital?
- Why is the psychiatric ward so stark?
- What can the hospital do to help with my depression?
- Is there any way to speed up the time we spend in the emergency room?
- What’s the best way to help my loved one get admitted into the hospital quickly?
- What can the hospital do to prevent my friend from killing himself?
- How do I know when it is time to take someone to the hospital?
- Why does my therapist freeze up when I talk about suicide?
- Is there anything else I should do to keep from hurting myself?
- What is Risperdal?
- What can I hold onto during these suicidal periods?
- Do these terrifying suicidal thoughts mean I’ll kill myself?
- When should I take a suicide threat seriously?
- Do suicide hotlines help?
- What can I do to help someone who’s contemplating suicide?
- Why would someone want to kill himself?
