Psychiatrists are often faced with the question from patients: “I went to the doctor and I told him that I was uninterested, unhappy and didn’t want to do anything for a while, and he prescribed me antidepressants, but didn’t say anything about psychotherapy. Do I need psychotherapy? Would psychotherapy be good for me? I’ve been taking these medications for 3 weeks now and I’m not getting any better, what should I do?” Many patients have asked their doctors similar questions. The answer to this question is that any patient with depression using psychotherapy is beneficial and not harmful. Doctors who do not give or suggest that their patients go to psychotherapy ignore the importance of psychotherapy and often leave their patients without achieving the maximum possible recovery. Do you believe it? Back in the 1990s, the American Psychological Association published a very interesting article by Beck suggesting that the combination of psychotherapy and medication for depression can lead to faster and better recovery. The available scientific evidence suggests that psychological interventions, particularly cognitive therapy (CBT), are more effective than antidepressants in treating psychodynamic deficits and social maladjustment in depression. Yale psychiatrists Wexler 1992 (Wexler & Cicchetti, 1992) conducted a meta-analysis in which medication alone led to a much higher rate of deterioration than psychotherapy alone or medication combined with psychotherapy. Their study showed that with 100 depressed patients, only 29 recovered if treated with medication alone, psychotherapy alone led to 47 recoveries, and the same 47 recoveries if both were combined. But on the other hand, when treated with medication alone, 52 people would fall off because of poor efficacy or side effects, 30 people would fall off with psychotherapy alone, and 34 people would fall off with the combined treatment. Their study showed that it is better to treat depression early with psychotherapy alone rather than medication combined with psychotherapy. Medications can lead to unwanted side effects. In addition, studies have consistently found that patients receiving medication have a high rate of shedding (Karon & Teixeira, 1995), which is mainly due to side effects or ineffective treatment. Another meta-analysis by Greenberg (1992), which included 22 studies, showed that only physicians rated tricyclic antidepressants as more effective than placebo, while patients did not consider antidepressants to be more effective than placebo. If we do not have good evidence that antidepressants are better than placebo, it is reasonable to doubt that antidepressants are really effective. Similarly, the newer selective pentothal reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs, such as Prozac, paroxetine, and sertraline) are no better (Antonuccio, 1995). Empirical data show that it is difficult to distinguish whether the efficacy of patients on medication is a placebo effect or an antidepressant? It is commonly assumed that patients taking medication that works must be the effect of the medication, ignoring the placebo effect of the medication. Most of the same patients believe that they would be worse off if they did not take their medication. Many studies claim to be multicenter, large-sample studies, but we know that the duration of these studies is relatively short, whereas in actual clinical practice drugs are used for much longer periods of time. For example, Prozac claims to have a sample of 11,000 or 6,000 in clinical trials. However, in controlled studies, only 286 cases used Prozac, and only for 6 weeks (BregginBreggin, 1994). In the study data, 86% of the patients were treated with Prozac for less than 3 months. Only 63 of several thousand patients were on the drug for more than two years. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether long-term use of antidepressants is superior or inferior. In conclusion,1 psychotherapy combined with medication is the preferred treatment option for depression.2 No matter what kind of depressive symptoms and how severe the depressive symptoms are, psychotherapy alone is the second preferred treatment.3 Medication alone is used only as a last choice method. Although medications can relieve symptoms that have little to do with depression, multiple meta-analyses have shown that long-term medication is not of much benefit.4 Always consult your doctor or psychiatrist before starting or stopping any medication.5 Patients taking psychiatric medications have a right to detailed information about the adverse effects of these medications, and you should ask your doctor in detail, or you can go to the bookstore and look through the medication handbook to learn more This article is not intended to be a treatment plan for your specific problem.