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What is treatment-resistant depression?
It's the label used when two different antidepressants, at proper doses for proper lengths of time, haven't done enough. Roughly a third of people treated for depression land here. So if that's you, you have a lot of company, and you are not out of options.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Akinwande Akintola, MD — Mon Jul 20 2026
It's the label used when two different antidepressants, at proper doses for proper lengths of time, haven't done enough. Roughly a third of people treated for depression land here. So if that's you, you have a lot of company, and you are not out of options.
Augmentation medications, different drug classes, structured therapy, and referral treatments like TMS and esketamine all exist for exactly this. Step one, always: recheck the diagnosis. "Resistant depression" sometimes turns out to be bipolar disorder, ADHD, or a thyroid problem wearing depression's clothes, and those each have their own fix.
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