What are common treatments for depression?
The most common treatment for major depression is the use of anti-depressants. There are a whole collection of anti-depressants, and most commonly patients will be started with medications called SSRI's or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors to treat their depression. However, each psychiatrist has at his or her disposal as many as 1 to 15 other alternative depression treatments if SSRI's don't work. Psychotherapy is an important part of treatment and the vast majority of positive outcomes are cases where patients receive both treatments for their depression.