If you have depression or a related mood disorder and have committed to treating it then I urge you to consider these home remedies to help you start feeling better as soon as possible.
For many people, these do-it-yourself treatments will help, but not enough to restore normal mental health. The next step is to use medications or counseling or both. Most people resist these options, frequently because of concerns about stigma, side effects, or cost. However, medications typically offer the fastest improvement in mood-often within days-and counseling is the best way of achieving a long-lasting improvement or even cure of your depression.
I'll go into more detail about specific antidepressant medications in the future, but first let's go over some general principles.
Although some people notice positive effects within a few days, antidepressant medicines typically take about 2 weeks for their full effect to kick in. In addition, many of the potential side effects tend to fade away, or at least improve, within the first few weeks. Therefore, it is best to try to wait at least a couple of weeks before making any dosage changes or switching to a different medication.
At the end of treatment, the same principle holds true: It can take 2 weeks or so to notice the effect of stopping or reducing an antidepressant medication, so it is important to taper down slowly and monitor your depression symptoms carefully when it is time to reduce or stop therapy with these drugs.
Many people tell me that they fear becoming addicted to (or dependent upon) antidepressants. These medicines do not actually cause addiction or dependence at all. However, some patients do experience a few days of withdrawal symptoms if their antidepressant is stopped suddenly, rather than being tapered down slowly. Typical symptoms include headache, fatigue, or dizziness.
Another problem that is often confused with addiction is that the depression symptoms may come back when the antidepressant medication is stopped. This may lead patients to believe that they have become dependent on the medication and can no longer escape symptoms of depression without it.
The truth is, however, that the medication often just helps control the depression, but does not cure it. This is no different from the way we manage high blood pressure, diabetes, and many other medical problems-the treatments only work while they are being used. The recurrent symptoms of depression are often no worse than they were before going on the medication, but the rapid recurrence after stopping the medicine may be much more noticeable than the gradual worsening that typically occurs when depression first sets in. The good news here is that depression, unlike so many other medical conditions, sometimes can be cured, allowing the medication to be gradually tapered and stopped.
Some people dislike the way antidepressant medications make them feel. Although a patient's low moods are often improved, these medications sometimes reduce the "high" associated with a good mood. For some people, this blunting of the emotional range is too steep a price to pay for avoiding the lows of their depression. Others, however, gladly give up some of their sunny moods to keep the darkest clouds away.
Finally, we need to talk about the risk of suicide. There is a small increase in the risk of suicide when depressed patients first begin or increase their dose of an antidepressant medication. Fortunately, this is a very rare side effect. The risk appears to be greatest among teenagers, especially those with severe depression.
No one is quite sure exactly why this increased suicide risk occurs. People with very severe depression may, however, have a suicidal tendency, but lack the energy or clarity of thought to carry out any harmful acts. One theory suggests that antidepressants may improve energy levels and mental acuity more rapidly than they reduce suicidal thinking, creating a dangerous combination of harmful thoughts with the physical and mental energy to act upon them. This may be especially true for teenagers, who have less life experience and therefore less perspective on their prospect for improvement. Patients and their family members should be warned about this rare but serious risk, and encouraged to call a doctor or suicide hotline immediately if such suicidal thoughts are occurring.
