Questions To Ask Yourself Before Starting Antidepressants

Depression is a serious medical condition, and the decision to take antidepressants can be just as big of a deal. "I think of medications as bandages," says Eva Selhub, MD, a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School and author of Your Health Destiny. "If you're bleeding, you need the bandage so that your body can focus its energy on getting stronger and healthier, not on creating a clot." Additionally, seeing a therapist, changing your behavior, establishing healthy eating, sleeping, and exercising habits, socializing and joining groups—doing all the things that will improve your mood—should be part of your long-term plan to fight depression.