I am glad you took the innitiative and got some help when you recognize you need it --- depression can keep getting worse and worse and that is one reason why more men commit suicide than women, because their pride gets in the way of asking for help.

a psychiatrist is most likely going to talk to you mainly about your symptoms of depression -- which I have a list of, if you want just tell me.

ANd he/she is likely going to try mostly to determine just how depressed you are - you may be given a written exam to help determine that.
And your pdoc (psychiatrist) will give you a treatment recommendation based on what they find.

For major depression (depression that either keeps worsening or won't go away on it's own) both antidepressants and therapy are most often recommended as the most effective treatment.

As far as antidepressants go, there are four different families of them, each works a different way in the brain to increase or make more effective the use of neurotransmitters related to mood regulation (serotonin and norepinephrine)

Prozac is a very popular antidepressant because it is usually effective for mild to moderate depression, and has fewer side effects than a lot of other antidepressants. However, you tend to build a tollerance to it over time, so it is mostly useful for depression that will go away eventually.

THere are also several antidepressants within each of the four families of antidepressants, and the only way to find out which one works for you, is to try them. So it can take a while, but patience will pay off if/when you do find what works. It is also possible you may need to find a combination of two or even sometimes three at a low dose that works better than just one.

With any antidepressant, it can take a couple of weeks or even a month or two before you know exactly whether or not is going to be effective -- and some of the side effects you get at first may wear off or lessen during that time, too, so give each one you try a chance before you quit and try another one.

It can be very frustrating going through all that just to get some relief, but that is one good reason not to wait too long before you get some help. Another good reason is because, the longer you wait, the more difficult it is to get it under control.

Good luck!!!

usually in the first meeting, they do an evaluation. Its like a meet and greet and to assess where you are. However if you are feeling suicidal or they feel you are a harm to yourself or others they can reccomend placing you in a hospitol. However if that is not the case you can and sometimes disccuss treatment options such as medication or other forms of treatment.

That is what I do with my clients, and no I am not a shrink, However I do work with them and have been seeing them for many years.

Message me if you have questions I can do my best to help you.

starfish and olbapyetep said a lot of good stuff, so i won't repeat it...
The important thing to remember is if you don't like your psychiatrist, you can always get a new one. Sometimes it's hard, but it's important that you can relate and respect each other. It would be a shame to give up on getting help because you don't get along with your pdoc. That is my advice. The same goes for meds. If you don't like one, ask to try another. It's important to feel comfortable.
Much luck with your journey!

My mistake in the past was to segment information. If it didn't seem relevant to depression, I left it out. That was the wrong way to go.

An assessment is like a game of "ruling out" a question of ruling other symptoms and problems to hone in on a diagnosis.

All sorts of things are important to a diagnoses like hormone issues, thyroid problems, etc. Health should also be included.

Life stressors are also important to mention to get an accurate assessment.

The assessment will only be as good and as accurate as the information that you give the assessor. And by extension, the treatment suggested is only as good as the assessment.

You may be making some assumptions which will be part of the problem. Having "diagnosed" yourself with depression doesn't mean the doctor will have the same diagnosis. You may experience periods of depression, but that may not be the issue at all. Depression can go along with other issues, but may not be the main issue.

This is very good. Remember that they are there to help you. Psychotherapy is very common for depression. It worked wonders for me. You may get put on antidepressants. Just remember to relax and tell them everything. Don't hold stuff back.