The prognosis for any disease is better when it is diagnosed and treated early! Mental disorders are no exception. Current research has confirmed that depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc. all have damage to brain function and brain structure, and that these damages cannot be detected at the individual level using the current conventional imaging methods, and therefore cannot be applied to the clinic for the time being. However, imaging studies at the group level have undoubtedly shown that the impairment of brain function and brain structure is closely related to the duration of the onset of the disorder, and the longer the onset of the disorder, the more severe the impairment. These studies also strongly suggest that early treatment of patients with mental disorders may guarantee a favorable lifetime prognosis. Here, I would like to share with you an experience of a depressed patient I met during my check-in yesterday. She is currently 50 years old and had an onset of the disease 15 years ago, when she immediately came to our hospital for treatment, recovered in about 2 months, and remained stable for 3 years. She stopped taking her medication thereafter and had a second episode only 12 years later. Her follow-up suggests two points: 1. Early and adequate treatment will likely have a good long-term effect. 2. The drug can be stopped at an early stage. What is meant by early adequate treatment is that the cure is obtained with adequate amount and course of treatment and the maintenance treatment is stable for more than 1-2 years. From this patient, will think of patients and their families often have some misunderstandings: 1, early try not to take drugs: Many depressed patients in the beginning is always reluctant to accept the reality of the disease, usually choose to harden, delayed for a long time. Some patients may be lucky enough to have a natural remission, while some are unfortunate enough to be aggravated to the point of requiring hospitalization. In either case, compared with the early start of treatment, the patient is actually in the disease time is prolonged, brain damage is also heavier, the recovery effect may naturally be different, for the disease of the long-term prognosis of the impact is also different. 2, try to short treatment: early must strive to get cured, which is very important for the long-term good prognosis. However, some patients in the outpatient treatment, after the improvement of part of the drug started to reduce or stop, this phenomenon is especially in the non-psychiatric treatment may be more common. This is especially common in non-psychiatric treatment. The consequence of this situation is that the disease becomes chronic, and it may be difficult for the patient to get well again after 1-2 years of continuous partial improvement, which will lead to mental disability and great mental and economic pressure on the patient. In short, we must have mental health awareness and relevant scientific knowledge, and once there is a suspected or clear abnormality, we should go to a psychiatric specialist for evaluation early, so as to achieve early identification and early diagnosis, and early and adequate treatment, so as to ensure a good long-term prognosis, and we can still have a happy and joyful life just like other people.