Antidepressants won't change your personality
Some people are afraid of the mental health system or of the medications that a doctor may prescribe for depression. "Patients ask me if depression medications will change who they are as people. It's an understandable concern," says Jewel Shim, MD, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California–San Francisco.
"Antidepressants target the symptoms of depression, not your personality," says George I. Papakostas, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. (Watch a video of a psychiatrist explain the potential benefits of antidepressants, and how they might work for you.) "People around you may notice a change in your demeanor during treatment, though. Patients may seem less sad, less anxious, less irritable or angry, more content."
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