Understanding Depression Slideshow Take the Depression Quiz Depression Tips Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Follow-up

Depending on the severity of your depression, you will see your health-care provider more frequently, perhaps as often as every week or every other week, for the first six to eight weeks after the initial diagnosis of depression.

Be sure to tell your health-care provider about any medication side effects or urges to hurt yourself or others.

Depression Prevention

People who have risk factors for depression should be "screened" regularly by their health-care provider. This means that when they see their health-care provider, questions should be asked that might indicate depression.

If identified early, those who are at risk for depression are more likely to benefit from treatment.

Depression Prognosis

Untreated episodes of clinical depression typically last from six to 24 months.

Properly treated episodes are much shorter in most people.

• About two-thirds of people will recover and be able to return to their normal activities within days or weeks.
• About 25% of all people will continue to exhibit moderate to severe symptoms for months to years after the initial episode.
• Nearly 10% of people with depression will have continuous or intermittent symptoms for two or more years. A person who has one episode of depression should be on the lookout for recurrent episodes of depression, since these occur about 50% of the time. However, quick treatment will usually be effective for these recurrent depressions, as well.