{"id":428822,"date":"2026-05-06T20:27:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T20:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/428822\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T20:27:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T20:27:31","slug":"6-questions-to-ask-your-doctor-before-starting-a-mental-health-drug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/428822\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Questions to Ask Your Doctor Before Starting a Mental-Health Drug"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-testid=\"paragraph-element\" class=\"rich-text mb-6 font-graphik text-body-large text-black-coffee mt-8 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color text-left\">Given that there are multiple medications in various classes to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental-health conditions, Nausheen Hossain, a clinical pharmacist for Vanderbilt Behavioral Health, also suggests asking: Why do you feel this particular medication is appropriate for me and my symptoms?<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-element\" class=\"rich-text mb-6 font-graphik text-body-large text-black-coffee mt-8 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color text-left\">How soon can I expect results?<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-element\" class=\"rich-text mb-6 font-graphik text-body-large text-black-coffee mt-8 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color text-left\">The timeline for improvements in symptoms can vary widely. \u201cStimulants work super quickly, so you will know within a day or two if it helps you,\u201d says Kovacevich.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-element\" class=\"rich-text mb-6 font-graphik text-body-large text-black-coffee mt-8 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color text-left\">By contrast, the effects from antidepressants often take four to eight weeks to fully kick in. Keep in mind: Antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications don\u2019t always eliminate those feelings entirely. The medications \u201ctake the edge off anxiety or depression, making it easier to move through your symptoms or manage them,\u201d says Kovacevich. \u201cYou may still have some anxiety or depressive symptoms, but you may feel less stuck and have improvements in your energy, sleep, and appetite.\u201d To get the best results, she adds, it often helps to add in\u00a0 therapy and lifestyle changes alongside medication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Given that there are multiple medications in various classes to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental-health conditions, Nausheen&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[163,521,85,46,201256],"class_list":["post-428822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health-psychology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}