Battling depression is not as simple as a few Prozacs down the hatch. We are all wired slightly differently and can experience different reactions to the same drug, which can turn the simple act of finding the right medication into a long drawn-out game of roulette. Also, well-meaning but ignorant doctors or therapists may drive you to despair rather than give you hope. The same holds true for family and friends. The good thing is that the mind takes part in its own healing.
Many patients show signs of improvement before the medication they are on actually kicks in.
We don't want to jump to conclusions, but this suggests that the simple act of seeking help might actually lay the groundwork for eventual recovery. To rephrase it, nature may be providing us with a means of coping with one of her own failures - of giving us one inch of hope out of the almighty despair of the brain going crash. But first one must hold onto that precious one inch for dear life - and then be patient. Approximately 18.8 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the US population age 18 and older in a given year, have a depressive disorder. Depressive disorders may be appearing earlier in life in people born in recent decades compared to the past.