Chronic Depression Chronic Depression Depression is an illness that can be treated, but one treatment may not keep depression at bay. Psychiatrists at UT Southwestern Medical Center say many people with depression need long-term care.
Depression can sometimes be a chronic condition that requires ongoing treatment.
Society is getting better at recognizing the symptoms of depression, so more people with depression are getting treatment. But often either the patient or the physician stops medical treatment once the patient is feeling better. A patient who has lived with depression may indeed feel better after treatment than he or she did during a depressive episode, but he or she may still be depressed. Another depressive episode may occur again. Doctors say patients who have been treated for more than one major depressive episode appear to be more likely to have a chronic depressive condition.