In the outpatient clinic, almost every physician encounters a patient who asks the question, “I’m better now, but how long do I need to take my medications?” In the outpatient clinic, first-time patients often refuse to take their medications because they are concerned about seeing patients around them who can barely stop their medications and fear that once they are on them they will not be able to stop for life. In the outpatient clinic, once a patient’s condition recurs, the doctor assumes that the patient is not taking the medication consistently, or is reducing the medication on his or her own. In outpatient clinics, every doctor is confronted with the question, “I’m well now, but how long do I need to take my medication?” The answer to this question is almost completely different, from three months to six months, a year, three years, or a lifetime. 。。。。。。 If you are a patient with a chronic disease such as diabetes or hypertension, they tend not to dwell on whether they accept the medication, or how long the medication needs to be taken, because they are more likely to believe that mental illness is not a real disease, so rejection, skepticism, denial, resistance when a different answer is sought is of course the inevitable result. But how long do you need to take antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications? Do they need to be taken for life? I have been thinking about this question for a long time, but the reason for my delay in writing is that I think my ideas are not mature and comprehensive enough, but this is a problem that needs to be solved in today’s society, so here I will just talk about my views on this issue in combination with clinical and data review, hoping to help people who are confused about this issue. When it comes to the application of antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs, many patients cannot understand why the doctor gave me a diagnosis of anxiety disorder, but let me take antidepressants? What I want to tell you here is that all antidepressants can also be used as anti-anxiety medications. How long should I take the medication? It depends on whether you have depression or anxiety disorder. If you have depression, then the first time you have a relapse, stick with the antidepressants for one year after they are effective, if you have a second relapse you need to take them for three years, and if you have a third relapse, then it is better to take them for life. Otherwise, it will increase the recurrence of depression. As for anxiety disorders, the time to take medication needs to be determined by his literacy, age, ability to self-regulate and other factors to determine the time to use medication, that is, if you have the ability to self-adjust and overcome anxiety under the guidance of a doctor, then the medication can be used sparingly or not, or for a short period of time, but if your elderly, coupled with low literacy, then the medication is very important, because you can not self-adjust. Medications will help you improve your anxiety.