When deciding to prescribe a medicine to alleviate depression, doctors and patients face a fraught process of trial and error. After the initial clinical evaluation, a doctor's first choice antidepressant has a 5050 chance of working, and this usually takes several weeks to find outl. This fuzzy standard of care comes with real risks. Patients may have to manage side effects, such as weight gain or agitation, while remaining uncertain about whether the drug will quell their depression symptoms. This may result in some patients discontinuing with their prescription and lead them to distrust their doctors. Worse still, when faced with the possibility of unremitting depression, it may even lead some patients to suicide.
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