Caitlin's Story: Finding the Right Treatment for Depression Takes Time

This program is for people who have major depressive disorder (MDD), their care partner(s), and others who want to know more about treatment choices and changes. The goal is to help you feel more confident in your ability to seek treatments that work for your depression.

You'll watch Caitlin's personal journey and learn how she worked with her care team to find the right mix of treatments for depression over time. And you'll explore

• What it means to have MDD

• Different forms of treatment for depression, including talk therapy, medicine, and lifestyle changes

• What to do when medicine takes time to work

• How to partner with your healthcare team

• How to find support

• What questions to ask your healthcare provider about your treatment

If you feel hopeless, sad, or unhappy most of the time, you may have MDD. Other MDD symptoms include feeling very tired or having trouble concentrating, losing or gaining weight, or thoughts that life isn't worth living.

When you feel this down, it can be hard to have hope or to think that anything can help. But your healthcare team wants to help; and together with your input and commitment, they can.

As psychiatrist Dr Rakesh Jain says: "We have effective treatments for depression that can make a real difference in people's lives. But it does take several treatments or time to get the right treatment or combination of them. Depression is tough, but we are tougher. Depression is persistent, but we are more persistent. Together we have more power than depression does."

Depression treatment takes teamwork among you and your care team. Whether it's talk therapy, antidepressant medicines, lifestyle changes, or a combination of all of these elements, there is hope.

Diagnosed at 17 with depression, Caitlin transitioned from pediatric to adult psychiatric care. She talks about how she's learned to manage her treatment and communicate with her providers about symptoms and medicine side effects.

Caitlin says that medicine is one part of her treatment -- therapy, lifestyle changes, and finding support are equally important.

Watch her story and learn more about how staying on top of your treatment and being open with your healthcare team makes all the difference in successfully managing your depression.

You may find it helpful to learn what others with MDD have to say about treatment. Visit the website for PatientsLikeMe, an online patient network where people can find support, track their conditions, and share information. You can see what treatments people with MDD report and what they say about them.

PatientsLikeMe member, Doug, shares his experience with trying new medications and working with his provider on his treatment plan:

“I've been through quite a bit and have now enjoyed a good five years of stability and predictability.”

“What distinguishes [my provider] is that he's available on a multiplicity of levels… he's very responsive and communicative in addition to being really well schooled. [He] acts very quickly on a patient's behalf.”

“The longer my relationship with him, the more I feel a strong reliance on pharmacology …I'm able to engage with my kids again… the experience is altered but it is dramatically improved.”

“After a while in treatment, and in talk therapy, as you begin to read more about depression because it's part of your existence… you can see yourself dealing with the illness from a more objective standpoint.”

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed the program: Caitlin's Story: Finding the Right Treatment for Depression Takes Time