It is important to remember that depression is a medical disease like any other. And, just as there are treatments for diabetes or heart disease, there are treatment options available for depression.

Find the Approach That's Right for You

Counseling, or psychotherapy, often called "talk" therapy, comes in many forms. Its goal is to help people develop new ways to cope with problems, and to identify and understand more about depression and how to avoid it in the future.

Antidepressant medicines work by helping to correct the imbalance of certain important chemicals in the brain. These medicines may take several weeks to be effective, but they work well and are generally safe. There are three main groups of antidepressants: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclics (TCAs), and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). SSRIs, such as LEXAPRO^®, are the newest class of antidepressants. They help to relieve the symptoms of depression by increasing the available supply of serotonin, a substance in the brain believed to influence mood.

There are other things you can do on your own that may help you feel better, such as: exercising; improving your diet; establishing a normal, full-night sleeping schedule; and reducing or eliminating caffeine and alcohol. To find out which of these or other suggestions might be right for you, talk to your healthcare professional.

LEXAPRO Effectively Treats Depression and is Easy to Tolerate

LEXAPRO has been proven in clinical trials to be an effective and well-tolerated prescription medication that improves the quality and enjoyment of life for adults suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).^1,2

LEXAPRO is a member of the group of prescription drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Because SSRIs show improved safety and have fewer side effects than older classes of antidepressant medications, SSRIs are increasingly prescribed by doctors as the first choice of therapy for depression.³

LEXAPRO has been prescribed to over 15 million patients in the U.S.⁴ In fact, psychiatrists prescribe LEXAPRO more often than any other SSRI.⁵ With just one 10 mg tablet a day, LEXAPRO significantly improves the symptoms of depression and anxiety for many patients beginning at week 1 or 2, although it may take 4 to 6 weeks to feel LEXAPRO's full antidepressant/antianxiety benefits.

LEXAPRO is a powerful medicine that is well tolerated. In studies of patients taking 10 mg a day of LEXAPRO, the number of people who stopped taking LEXAPRO due to side effects was comparable to those who took placebo (sugar pill) in the treatment of depression, and low in the treatment of GAD.^1,6,7*

The most commonly reported side effects of LEXAPRO are nausea, insomnia, problems with ejaculation, somnolence, increased sweating, fatigue, decreased libido, and anorgasmia. Most of the side effects experienced by patients taking LEXAPRO are mild to moderate and go away with continued treatment, and usually do not cause patients to stop taking LEXAPRO. Furthermore, patients who were treated with LEXAPRO experienced no clinically important weight changes as a result of therapy.

^*8% for LEXAPRO vs 4% for placebo in the comprehensive GAD safety database.

Talking to Your Doctor

If you are unsure how to talk to your doctor about your symptoms, see questions for your doctor to help you organize your thoughts, feelings, and questions so you can get the most out of your visit. If you think you may be experiencing the symptoms of depression, you can start taking charge of your health today by taking the Depression Self-Screener. This simple quiz can help you better understand whether the symptoms you've been experiencing point to depression. If you print out your answers, you can share them with your doctor. This may help you initiate a very important conversation about your physical and mental well-being.