Read more about treatment for depression.
Find out what your health insurance will — and will not — cover. Mental health treatment is not covered as completely as other illnesses by many health insurance companies. Find out if your treatment professionals need to be in your insurance provider’s network or if they can be out of network, if you need to obtain a referral for treatment and the specific criteria for psychotherapy.
Prepare for your visits with your doctor. Before visits with your treatment professionals, sit down and write up a list of questions you want to ask. It’s easier than trying to think of questions while you’re there, and this will ensure that you won’t forget your questions or your doctor’s answers.
Here’s a list of questions to ask your doctor — I found that this information was always important.
Decide how open you want to be about your diagnosis. It’s best to think in advance about what you’re going to say to your employer and co-workers, friends and family. You may be surprised at how much resistance you encounter and where it comes from. When I was diagnosed, a long-time friend was completely unable to deal with it. Other friends questioned my doctor’s recommendations regarding antidepressants, although they themselves had no experience with mental illness or knowledge of treatment options.
Be prepared for the possibility that your family will be less supportive than you would like. Unless they have some experience with depression or are otherwise knowledgeable about it, this is uncharted territory for them, and that can be frightening. You might want to wait until you have your treatment underway to talk about your diagnosis.
You may want to avoid telling your employer or co-workers about your depression if possible, at least until you get an idea of how quickly your treatment will be effective. Their perception of how well you’re doing your job will almost certainly be affected, whether your depression is having an effect on your performance or not. I did not share my diagnosis with the woman I was working for at the time until my next job review came along, which was positive. You may find it necessary to share this news with your employer, though, if you need to make special work arrangements during your treatment.
