Question: I have depression, and it is taking years to clear up. What is this illness, what can be done for them, and what is the long term prognosis?
There are many different types of depression. Some forms are a reaction to stresses in your life such as loss of a job or a death in the family, while others are caused by biochemical imbalances in the brain that occur for no apparent reason. Sometimes it can last for just a few weeks, while in others it may recur, or persist for years. Psychiatrists will attempt to determine the type of depression that is affecting you before starting any treatment, but this is often very difficult, as there are no blood or other tests that can help the doctor, and s/he must depend on his/her clinical skills.
Once the diagnosis is made, the correct treatment will be started. This will usually involve the use of one or more medications, counseling, psychotherapy, and occasionally shock treatment.
There are some cases that can be cured, but others may only have their depression controlled. There are many diseases that cannot be cured, but are effectively controlled, and good examples would be diabetes and high blood pressure, where medication must be used life long.
Provided the patient is prepared to carefully follow a doctor’s advice, the majority of cases of depression can be cured or controlled, so that the patient can lead a normal life with minimal side effects from the treatment. Only in cases where there is poor compliance with treatment, poor family support or other adverse factors does the patient face a life of continued depression and risk suicide.

Question: What is the best treatment for depression? Should I keep taking drugs all the time?
Depression may be due to an imbalance of chemicals that normally occur in the brain to control mood, and it is necessary for doctors to alter this balance, by giving medications that can control the production or activity of the depressing chemicals.
The worst problem with untreated depression is suicide, and this can be seen as a desperate plea for help in many people. The disease may not be detected or treated until a radical attempt to end life has occurred.
Medication and counseling by a general practitioner or psychiatrist will control the vast majority of cases.
The other form of treatment used is shock therapy. This has been surrounded by some controversy in the past, but is a very safe and often very effective method of giving relief to patients with severe chronic depression.