If you’re depressed, if you’ve been diagnosed with teen depression, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), you might have to take antidepressants. You might have to take psychotropic medication to help yourself feel better.

It’s important to know that medication alone for a psychological illness is not the best answer. Medication can only help relieve your symptoms, but it won’t address the problems underneath. For example, you might be depressed because there were events in your life that began to cause sad feelings, like a death in the family or a friend moving away or an accident where you got hurt. It’s not until later that we realize the effect they’ve had on us. And that’s when we need to stop and tend to those past events and our feelings about them.

When you realize that you’re not feeling well on the inside, you might discover that you are depressed. You might begin to experience anxiety or panic attacks or become obsessive about the smallest things. Psychotropic medication can help with these symptoms. But they do come with some risks. For teens in particular, it is essential to know that anti-depressants can cause suicidal thoughts and even attempts at suicide. This doesn’t mean to dismiss this kind of medication as an option because they can in fact be helpful. But make sure to talk to your doctor about them before you start taking medication and during your experience with them.

For instance, when one teen began taking antidepressants, she found that she wasn’t herself. She felt like she was in a dark tunnel while she was on her medication and that it was keeping her depressed in an odd sort of way. Even though they helped with her mood, she felt like they restricted her range of emotions. When she told her doctor about how she was feeling, they decided to go off the medication slowly. She got headaches during the withdrawal process, but a few weeks later she felt like herself again. She felt like she was coming out of that dark tunnel and could see the sun for the first time. She found that she actually felt happy and that she was even singing again.

She realized that having someone to talk to was really all that she needed. Her depression slowly lifted when she was able to finally get things off her chest. When she was able to talk about the abuse she experienced and the foster homes she had to live in and the way her foster parents didn’t really care for her but needed the money and so took her in their home. When she was able to talk about the way she felt about these experiences, her depression slowly eased up.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is common mental illness in the United States for both teens and adults. About 9 percent of Americans suffer from depression, and globally, five percent of the population across the planet suffers from depression, according to the World Health Organization. Despite the social stigma, it’s common to experience depression.

Teen depression treatment commonly includes both medication and therapy. However, medication alone is typically not an effective way to treat this illness. Of course, anyone taking psychotropic medication should be closely monitored, especially at the beginning of treatment. If you’re taking medication without therapy and if you’re experiencing side effects like those mentioned above, talk to your doctor.  Perhaps the best solution is to withdraw from your antidepressants and to seek an opportunity to get things off your chest. Perhaps the best solution is to talk to a therapist or psychologist.

At the same time, antidepressants can be very effective and helpful if you are experiencing teen depression. Be sure to talk to your doctor if you’re experiencing side effects or if you feel antidepressants aren’t working for you. Together, you can find the right solution that will both address your needs and treat your depression.