In many cases, depression (mild or moderate) can be treated through psychotherapy. But there are cases when the use of antidepressants is necessary. Today I would like to talk about the current state of treatment with antidepressants and touch on some myths associated with this phenomenon. 1. Motherwort and similar products are better, safer and more natural than antidepressants. In fact, antidepressants went through long trials to test their effectiveness and safety, unlike dietary supplements, which miss this important point. And we don’t even know whether the effect that we found after taking motherwort is called a cure or “placebo”... 2. Antidepressants are addictive, they are drugs. These and other similar concerns arose due to the methods of treating depression used in the 50s. The 60s, when addictive tranquilizers such as Valium were used, which did not fight the disease, but only masked the symptom. Antidepressants that are used today do not cause addiction, are neither tranquilizers nor stimulants.3. Antidepressants should not be used during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Studies have been conducted on how the use of antidepressants during pregnancy can affect the mental development of the child in the future. We took a group of healthy women, a group of women with anxiety disorders and treatment with antidepressants, and a similar group without treatment. It turned out that: - the risk of psychomotor development disorders was least in healthy women; - This risk was slightly increased in women with anxiety disorders who received treatment. - But the risk of disturbances in psychomotor development was much higher in children of women with anxiety disorders who did not receive treatment. When conducting experiments on animals, it turned out that chronic stress itself during pregnancy can affect the formation of the nervous system and entails a significant increase in the risk of impaired behavior in a child, while effective treatment can reduce this impact of stress to a minimum. Pregnancy should not be a reason to refuse treatment for depression. Untreated depression poses a much more serious threat to the life and health of the woman and fetus than treatment.4. I will be registered and this will affect my future life. Today there are a large number of opportunities to undergo treatment and counseling anonymously, for example, with private doctors and psychologists, where, out of necessity, the client’s real name is not even reflected.5. You need to choose antidepressants or personal therapy. Numerous studies show that the use of both therapy and antidepressants in combination gives the optimal effect. These two approaches reinforce each other: medications give you more strength to work in psychotherapy, and psychotherapy helps you rethink your life and take antidepressants.6. A psychologist can prescribe me antidepressants. Only a psychiatrist or psychotherapist can prescribe medications. What myths have you heard about??