Medication should be adjusted, not just prescribed.
Getting a prescription is the easy part. The work that matters is what happens over the following weeks and months — measuring whether it is helping, watching for side effects, and changing course when the answer is no.
A conversation about trade-offs, not a handoff
Before anything is prescribed, you should understand what it is meant to do, how long it typically takes to know, what side effects to watch for, and what the alternatives are. If a medication is not the right tool for your situation, we say that too.
Four questions we keep asking
Follow-up visits are not a formality. They exist to answer these, honestly.
Is it working?
Not “is it tolerable” — is it actually moving the symptoms that brought you here.
At what cost?
Side effects, sleep, energy, appetite, focus, and anything that has changed since the last visit.
Is the dose right?
Under-dosing and under-treating for too short a time are common reasons a good medication looks like a failure.
Is it still the right plan?
If the answer has been no for long enough, the plan changes rather than repeats.
Starting, adjusting, staying, stopping
We talk through the options and why one is being recommended over another, what it is expected to do, and roughly how long before you can judge it. You leave knowing what to watch for and when to call rather than wait.
Doses are changed deliberately, one variable at a time where possible, so that it stays clear what is helping and what is not. Partial improvement is treated as information, not as the finish line.
Once something is working, follow-up shifts to maintaining it — keeping an eye on side effects over time, interactions with other medications, and life changes that can affect how a medication performs.
Stopping is a clinical decision made together, and usually a gradual one. If you want to come off a medication, that is a conversation to have in the office rather than alone — there is almost always a safer way to do it.
Already on medication
You have a prescription from a primary care physician or a previous psychiatrist and want ongoing psychiatric oversight — someone whose job is to keep asking whether it is still the right medication at the right dose.
Considering it for the first time
You are not sure whether medication is the right step. That is a reasonable place to start from, and it is a conversation worth having with someone who will lay out the alternatives as clearly as the prescription.
What patients ask most
Not necessarily. Duration depends on the diagnosis, how many episodes you have had, and how you respond. It is a question worth revisiting at follow-ups rather than assuming the answer either way.
It varies by medication and by symptom. Some effects appear within days, while mood changes often take several weeks. Dr. Abbas will tell you the realistic window for what you are prescribed so you are not judging it too early.
Tell us rather than stopping on your own. Side effects often have solutions — timing, dose, or a different medication in the same class. Stopping abruptly can cause problems of its own.
Yes. Coordinating with the other clinicians involved in your care is part of the job, with your permission.
Any prescribing decision, including for controlled medications, is made individually after evaluation and in line with clinical guidelines and state requirements.
You may also want to explore
Psychiatric Evaluations
The comprehensive first visit that any medication plan should start from.
Treatment-Resistant Depression
When two or more medications have not produced an adequate response.
TMS Therapy
A noninvasive, non-medication option for depression that has not responded.
Bring your list. We will go through it.
Whether you are starting, switching, or wondering whether you still need it.