The cycle of depression treatment can be divided into the acute, consolidation and maintenance phases of treatment, and the different treatment phases have corresponding treatment goals and strategies. The goal of acute treatment is to achieve the remission of symptoms as much as possible, that is, the basic disappearance of depressive symptoms; the goal of consolidation and maintenance treatment is to prevent the rekindling and recurrence of depressive symptoms and to restore the social function of patients. Especially for recurrent depression, more attention should be paid to the treatment of the consolidation and maintenance periods. The acute phase of treatment is mainly to first select the appropriate medication for the patient. It takes 2-4 weeks for the depressant to take effect, and if the patient’s symptoms are still not significantly relieved after more than 6-8 weeks, it is often necessary to change the antidepressant. The acute phase of treatment takes about 1-3 months, and when the patient’s symptoms largely disappear or are significantly relieved, the patient can enter the consolidation phase of treatment. The consolidation phase is to maintain the dose of medication in the acute phase and takes 4-9 months, after which the patient enters the maintenance phase of treatment. The maintenance treatment varies from person to person, the dosage of antidepressants can be reduced during the maintenance period, and psychotherapy can be added at this time, the maintenance period may be as short as one month or as long as one year.