An earlier survey by the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association in 1999 of 1,370 people with depression found less than a third to be satisfied with their antidepressants. But the alternative can be unthinkable. The risk of subsequent episodes or recurrent depression increases from 50 to 70 to 90 percent across the first three depressive episodes. Chronic minor depressive disorders similarly place the individual at risk of major depression. By contrast, nearly 80 percent of patients receiving maintenance antidepressant therapy remained well.
Antidepressant therapy is long term, then, possibly for life.
You don't get rid of your antidepressants if you're feeling well anymore than a heart patient would throw out his heart pills or a diabetic his insulin. Even if all goes well, there are bound to be adjustments along the way. In many cases you may be required to be smarter than your doctor. One study sponsored by a healthcare provider and the drug company Pfizer found that primary care physicians indiscriminately prescribed antidepressants. Even when they made a correct diagnosis, they failed to educate their patients and often prescribed too low a dose for too short a period.