“Do antidepressants have permanent effects?”

Having a permanent effect becomes a relative term when treating Christine of illnesses like depression, high blood pressure, or diabetes. Medications would have some kind of permanent effect, but would need to be taken on a regular basis. The recommendations are to treat first episode of depression for 9 months to 1.5 years and then follow closely to monitor if symptoms reoccur. If it’s second episode of depression, then treatment should be for 3 years before taking a chance to see if symptoms reoccur. If it’s third episode and beyond, then the treatment becomes kind of an indefinite period of time. Individuals patient's psychosocial circumstances and resiliency as well as brain plasticity also play important roles in determining treatment intensity and duration.