Some patients with accompanying problems, such as anxiety, may require additional drugs that treat those symptoms. For people who have never been treated for depression, medications are usually maintained for six months or longer after depression has been resolved. Patients who improve within two weeks of taking medications may not require lengthy treatment. Some patients may require indefinite maintenance therapy. These patients include those who have had three or more recurrences of depression, people over 50 who have never had major depression before, those with two episodes and a family history of depression or bipolar disorder, and people who have had severe, sudden, or life-threatening depressions within the past five years.
Most patients have a recurrence of depression within five years after treatment has stopped.
This information is brought to you by Well Connected . You may order this complete guide or choose to subscribe to the complete library covering over 90 health and mental health problems. Virtually all antidepressants have side effects and complicated interactions with other drugssome are very serious. There is an increased risk of oral health problems caused by dry mouth associated with long-term use of all antidepressants. The risks appear to be highest with heterocyclic antidepressants, with multiple drug use, and with the presence of oral infections.