5 Signs Your Depression Treatment Isn't Working Health Grades

#1  You're struggling despite antidepressants.  Just three of every five people get complete relief from the first medication they try.  Doctors called antidepressant treatments that hasn't worked with six weeks treatment-resistant depression.  If you have this, you may need to switch to another antidepressant or take an additional medication.  #2  You're struggling despite psychotherapy.  If you were diagnosed with mild or moderate form of depression, you may be using psychotherapy(talk therapy) only.  Psychotherapy takes time to work.  But if you are not feeling better after a certain amount of sessions, you may have a more severe type of depression.  Not feeling better could include having symptoms that interfere with your ability to sleep, eat, work and enjoy life.  Studies show that an antidepressant plus psychotherapy works better than talk therapy alone for severe depression.  #3  Side effects are keeping you from feeling better. Side effects may be to much to handle.  Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sleepiness, weight gain and sexual problems.  Many side effects disappear over time. But if side effects continue to be a problem, let your doctor know.  There are medications that control side effects.  You may need to switch to a different antidepressant.  Don't stop taking your medication on your own.  Talk to your doctor.   #4  Your treatment is relieving some symptoms but not others.  Different types of depression have different symptoms and need different treatments.  For instance, psychotic depression causes you to have false beliefs or to see, feel or hear things that aren't real.  This type of depression often needs more aggressive treatment than antidepressants alone.  Many people have a mix of depression and anxiety.  The two conditions are not the same.  Anxiety may require different treatment.  Other disorders that can exist along with depression include substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, heart disease and cancer.  When these conditions are successfully treated, your depression treatment will likely work better.   #5  Your antidepressant is making you high.  Bipolar is a mental health condition often confused with depression.  Someone with bipolar disorder has alternating periods of depression and mania.  Mania is a mental state of high mood and excitement.  If you're being treated for depression and start to feel high and excitable, you may have bipolar disorder not depression.  People with bipolar disorder who take an antidepressant often cycle into a period of mania.  Bipolar disorder needs a different treatment.