depression is often ignored or misdiagnosed and left untreated. Such inattention can be life-threatening; major depression, in particular, has a high suicide rate. The stigma depression carries drives many people to hide it, try to tough it out, or self-medicate with alcohol, drugs, or herbal remedies to get relief. To effectively treat depression, it is important to seek care from a licensed mental health professional and get a correct diagnosis and treatment plan. Many treatments for depression are available and typically include a combination of psychotherapy and medication.

Psychotherapy teaches patients how to overcome negative attitudes and feelings and helps them return to normal activities. Drug therapy is intended to treat symptoms that are thought to result from abnormalities in brain circuits that regulate mood, thinking and behavior. It may take several weeks for an antidepressant to fully work to ease depression symptoms, so its important to stay on the medication.

The group of antidepressants most frequently prescribed today consists of drugs that regulate the chemical serotonin. Known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors SSRIs, the group includes Paxil, Prozac, Celexa, Lexapro, Zoloft and Viibryd. Serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors SNRIs including Effexor, Pristiq, and Cymbalta, also act on serotonin and norepinephrine but in a different way than SSRIs.

Other antidepressants include Wellbutrin, a drug that appears to affect dopamine and norepinephrine regulation, and Remeron, which increases levels of serotonin and norepinephrine by a different mechanism than SNRIs. For children and adolescents, the SSRIs are among the best-studied and therefore often the drugs of choice.