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Dr. Chrysoula I. Liakou MD, PhD
- Treated online: Yes, usually, for mild to moderate depression: video assessment with structured screening questions, talking-therapy referral and, after a full assessment, antidepressants with early booked reviews. Severe depression, psychosis or safety concerns need in-person care.
- What it is: low, flat or hopeless mood or loss of interest most of the day, nearly every day, for 2 weeks or more, usually with disturbed sleep, appetite, energy, concentration and self-worth.
- How common: about 5% of adults worldwide have depression at any time, around 280 million people; women are affected roughly 50% more often than men.
- Treatment: talking therapy, antidepressants or both; an antidepressant takes 4 to 6 weeks for its full effect and continues for about 6 months after you feel well, with stopping planned and gradual.
- Self-help that works: one small planned activity a day, regular exercise (which performs remarkably well in trials), steady sleep and meals, less alcohol and brief contact with people, because in depression action comes before motivation.
- Emergency: if you have taken an overdose or injured yourself, call 112 now; thoughts of suicide with a plan or the means to act need urgent in-person help, not a booked appointment.
If you are thinking about ending your life, have a plan, or have already harmed yourself, do not wait for a booked appointment of any kind: use the crisis contacts in the red box directly below. For everything else, including feeling flat and exhausted for weeks without knowing why, an online appointment is a good place to start.
When to get in-person care
Get urgent, in-person help today if you have thoughts of suicide with a plan or the means to act on it, if you have seriously harmed yourself, if you are hearing voices or believing things others insist are not real, or if you have stopped eating and drinking. If you have taken an overdose or injured yourself, call 112 now.
If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, call 112 in an emergency. You can also find your national crisis helpline at findahelpline.com. You do not have to wait for an appointment.
Can an online doctor treat depression?
Often, yes. A video consultation can often provide enough information to assess mild to moderate depression: the doctor uses the same structured questions as in clinics, agrees a plan of talking therapy, medication or both, and books early reviews.[1] Severe depression, psychosis or safety concerns need in-person, specialist care.
Listen: Burnout vs. Depression: Key Differences, Symptoms, and When to Get Help
The audio version of this topic from the Mobi Doctor podcast. Open the episode.
How an online consultation helps with depression
- Assessment from a safe place: Talking about depression is hard enough without a waiting room. The doctor uses the same structured questions used in clinics, over video, from wherever you feel most at ease.
- A plan with honest options: Talking therapy, medication, or both, matched to how severe things are, with the reasoning explained rather than handed down.
- Medication without the mystery: Exactly what antidepressants can and cannot do, how long they take, and what the first weeks feel like, before anything is prescribed.
- Follow-up that does not drop you: Early and regular reviews are part of the treatment, not an optional extra, and they are booked in before you leave the first appointment.
What are the symptoms of depression?
Depression is a low, flat or hopeless mood that persists most of the day, nearly every day, for two weeks or more, usually with loss of interest or pleasure in things you previously enjoyed.[2] Sleep, appetite, energy, concentration and self-worth are commonly affected. Presentations vary: irritability, restlessness or physical aches can dominate.
- Low, empty or hopeless mood most of the day
- Loss of interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy
- Sleeping far more or far less than usual
- Appetite or weight changes in either direction
- Exhaustion that rest does not touch
- Trouble concentrating, remembering or making decisions
- Feeling worthless, guilty or a burden
- Moving or speaking more slowly, or restless agitation
- Irritability and a short fuse
- Recurring thoughts of death or self-harm
Symptoms people do not always recognise
The clearest signal is often not tears but flatness: things you used to enjoy no longer register. Alongside it, depression commonly brings sleep that is broken or endless, appetite that shrinks or swells, concentration that makes you reread the same paragraph five times, exhaustion no rest touches, and a harsh inner voice insisting you are a burden. Some people feel slowed down; others are restless and irritable, and in men especially, irritability can be the loudest symptom. Some people keep performing normal life convincingly, with work delivered and jokes made, while everything inside has gone grey; functioning well is not proof of being well. When several of these have been present most of the day, nearly every day, for two weeks or more, it is worth taking seriously.
When low mood is something else
Low mood has imitators, so the assessment looks wider: an underactive thyroid, anaemia and some medicines (including certain blood pressure treatments, corticosteroids and hormonal therapies) can drain mood and energy, and alcohol quietly deepens depression while promising to soften it. Hormonal transitions matter too: perimenopause commonly brings mood change that is mistaken for pure depression. The doctor will also ask about periods of unusually high energy or racing ideas, because bipolar disorder needs different treatment, and about recent bereavement, since grief and depression can overlap but are not the same thing.[5] Where a physical cause is plausible, a local blood test is arranged before conclusions are drawn.
When should I see a doctor about low mood?
See a doctor when low mood or loss of interest has lasted two weeks or more, most days, or sooner if it is affecting work, relationships or self-care.[2] See someone today, not in two weeks, if you have thoughts of death or self-harm. Waiting until you feel bad enough is not required.
Two weeks is a threshold for diagnosis, not a queue you must join before asking. If people around you have started noticing, or covering for you, that is usually a sign it has gone on longer than you think.
Could this be postnatal depression?
If you have had a baby in the last year and feel persistently low, empty, anxious or unable to bond, it could be postnatal depression: a common, treatable illness, not a failure of parenthood. It is different from the brief baby blues, which settle within about two weeks of birth.[3]
An online doctor can assess you, involve your midwife or maternity services, and plan treatment that accounts for breastfeeding; several antidepressants can be compatible, and that decision is made carefully with you, not left to chance.[3] Partners can develop postnatal depression too. Screening for it is routine in many countries' postnatal checks, but plenty of people slip through, especially after the first months, when the visits stop and the tiredness is assumed. Treat one thing as an emergency: thoughts of harming yourself or the baby, or feeling detached from what is real, need immediate help through 112 or your national crisis line, not a booked appointment.
Depression that returns each winter
If your low mood arrives reliably as the days shorten and lifts in spring, ask the doctor about seasonal affective disorder; the pattern changes the treatment conversation, including timing therapy and light-based approaches. The seasonal affective disorder page covers it in detail.
Which depression treatment might the doctor recommend?
Treatment follows severity and safety. This is the decision framework the doctors use, aligned with European and UK guidance:[1]
Swipe sideways to compare →
| Presentation | Likely first step | Suitable for online care? | When referral or in-person care is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low mood or lost interest for two weeks or more, still managing day to day (mild) | Talking-therapy referral, activity planning and a booked review | Usually yes | If symptoms deepen or persist despite treatment |
| Moderate depression affecting work, home or self-care | Therapy plus an SSRI after full assessment, with early reviews | Usually yes | Little response after six to eight weeks at a proper dose: adjust, switch or refer |
| Persistent low mood after having a baby | Assessment coordinated with maternity services; breastfeeding-compatible options | Often yes | Thoughts of harming yourself or the baby: call 112 or your national crisis line now |
| Severe depression, psychotic symptoms, or possible bipolar disorder | Specialist psychiatric care | No | Referred to in-person, specialist care without delay |
| Thoughts of suicide with a plan or the means to act, or self-harm today | Emergency help now, not an appointment of any kind | No: this is a crisis | Call 112 now, or find your national crisis helpline at findahelpline.com |
Not sure which row describes you? A doctor can tell you in one consultation.
See available times →What the doctor checks in an online depression consultation
You do not need to prepare or find the right words; “I have not felt like myself since the spring” is enough to start. You can have someone you trust nearby or off camera, you will not be hurried, and nobody minds if you cry. Behind the conversation, the assessment is structured. The doctor will typically check:
- Mood and interest: how your mood, and your interest in things you used to enjoy, have been most days over the past two weeks and beyond, using the same structured questions used in clinics.
- The functional picture: sleep, appetite, energy, concentration, and how work, home and self-care are actually holding up.
- Safety, asked plainly: thoughts of death or self-harm, and what support is around you. It is the most important question in the room, and answering honestly changes nothing except how well you are looked after.
- History that changes the diagnosis: previous episodes and what helped, periods of unusually high energy or racing ideas that point to bipolar disorder, and recent bereavement.
- Physical mimics and medicines: thyroid problems, anaemia, alcohol, and prescriptions that can lower mood; where a physical cause is plausible, a local blood test is arranged.
- Context: a recent baby, perimenopause, chronic illness or pain, and major life events, because the plan is built around your life, not just a score.
The limits are stated just as plainly: video assessment can often provide enough information to assess and manage mild to moderate depression, and for many people it is easier to speak freely at home. Severe depression, psychosis, bipolar disorder or significant safety concerns need in-person and specialist care, and the doctor will refer you rather than stretch what online care can safely do.
Treatment options for depression
What you can do yourself
Depression shrinks your world, and the counter-move is small and deliberate: one modest, planned activity a day (a short walk, a shower and coffee outside, a message to one person) matters more than waiting for motivation to return, because in depression action comes before motivation, not after. Regular movement has genuine evidence for lifting mild to moderate low mood.[1][4] Keep your sleep and wake times steady, get daylight early in the day, and be honest about alcohol: it is a depressant that undermines both sleep and antidepressants. These steps support recovery; they are not a substitute for treatment when depression is moderate or severe. If you could simply snap out of it, you already would have. Two things reliably do not help: forcing positivity on a schedule, and reorganising your life around waiting to feel better. Recovery is built from small actions taken before they feel possible.
Prescription treatment
For milder depression, guidelines usually put talking therapy first, and the doctor can refer you.[1] Therapy is not lying on a couch being analysed: modern approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy and behavioural activation are structured, practical and time-limited, typically weekly sessions for a few months, in person or by video, working directly on the patterns that keep mood pinned down. A prescription is never issued without a consultation. For moderate or persistent depression, an SSRI such as sertraline or escitalopram is often the right next step, selected around your other medicines, health conditions and any previous response rather than by default. Antidepressants are not happiness pills: they lift the floor of your mood so that therapy, activity and life can do their work. Expectations, honestly: the full effect takes four to six weeks; the first week or two can bring nausea, headache or restless sleep before any benefit; and occasionally anxiety briefly worsens at the start.[1] That is why your doctor reviews you early, usually within the first one to two weeks and sooner if you are young or struggling, and then regularly. Once you feel well, treatment normally continues for around six months to protect the recovery, and stopping is always tapered with your doctor, never abrupt.[1] If the first antidepressant has given little benefit after six to eight weeks at a proper dose, that is not the end of the road: the dose can be adjusted, the medicine switched or therapy added, and reviews exist precisely so this happens on schedule rather than by luck. Benzodiazepines and other controlled medicines are not prescribed online.
When depression is treated online, and when you need in-person care
Treated online: mild to moderate depression, whether a first episode or a return of an old one; low mood tangled with anxiety or insomnia, managed in one plan; postnatal depression where it is safe to do so, coordinated with your maternity services; antidepressant starts with early booked reviews; and medication reviews, dose changes and planned, gradual stopping.
In-person care: severe depression, psychotic symptoms, suspected bipolar disorder, or any significant safety concern goes to in-person, specialist care, and the doctor organises that referral rather than stretching what online care can safely do. Thoughts of suicide with a plan or the means to act are a crisis, not an appointment: call 112 now, or find your national crisis helpline at findahelpline.com. And where two adequate treatment steps have not worked, the honest next move is psychiatry, not another identical prescription.
Self-help for low mood at home: what helps and what does not
Self-help has real evidence in mild low mood: planning small activities daily rather than waiting to feel like them, regular exercise, which performs remarkably well in trials, steady sleep and meals, less alcohol, time with people even briefly, and structured self-guided CBT.
What home care cannot do: it cannot treat depression that has settled in. Low mood most days for more than two weeks, losing interest in things that used to matter, or symptoms affecting work and relationships deserve proper assessment, because talking therapy and medication genuinely work and neither requires willpower you do not currently have. Depression tells people to handle it alone; that is the illness talking, not a treatment plan.
You do not have to leave home for that step either: a video consultation is at-home care with a licensed doctor in it, and if treatment is right for you, the prescription can be used at a pharmacy near you. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. Book a video consultation: no subscription, exact price before payment.
How Mobi Doctor works
- Book a time that suits you: open daily 7am–11pm CET. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. No subscription, exact price up front.
- Speak to a licensed doctor about depression: a private video call: you describe what you feel, the doctor asks what matters, and you agree the right plan together.
- Leave with your plan: everything agreed before you hang up: your plan, and a prescription to use at a pharmacy near you where medication is clinically right for you. If your doctor decides you need to be seen in person, you get a full refund.
No sign-up needed
Not sure it’s depression? Tick every symptom you have to see each condition page that mentions it. It finds the right page, not a diagnosis: a doctor gives you that on a video call.
Tap the body — an area or a point — to browse symptoms anywhere
Not sure this is the right page? Look up any symptom in the full symptom checker, or book and describe it to a doctor.
Frequently asked questions about depression
What is depression?
Depression is a low, flat or hopeless mood, or a loss of interest and pleasure in things you used to enjoy, that lasts most of the day, nearly every day, for two weeks or more. It usually changes sleep, appetite, energy, concentration and self-worth, and it is a treatable medical condition, not a character flaw or a passing bad mood.
What does depression feel like?
Depression often feels like heaviness rather than sadness: everything takes effort, nothing is enjoyable, concentration slips, sleep breaks or stretches, and the mind turns harsh and hopeless. Some people mainly feel numb or irritable, or notice aches and tiredness first. If that has been most days for two weeks or more, it is depression and it deserves assessment.
Do I have depression, or am I just tired and stressed?
Tiredness and stress lift when the pressure eases or you rest; depression does not. The distinguishing features are low mood or lost interest most days for two weeks or more, early waking or oversleeping, guilt or worthlessness, and losing pleasure in things that used to work. A structured screening at the consultation sorts depression from exhaustion, burnout and physical causes such as thyroid problems or anaemia.
What causes depression, and is it genetic?
Depression rarely has a single cause. Genes raise the risk, and depression runs in families, but stressful life events, loss, long-term illness, chronic pain, isolation, alcohol, some medicines and hormonal changes after childbirth or around the menopause all contribute. Often several small factors stack up until the mood tips, which is why treatment looks at the whole picture.
Can an online doctor prescribe antidepressants in Europe?
Yes, an online doctor can prescribe antidepressants for depression in Europe where clinically appropriate. They are only ever prescribed after a full assessment of your symptoms, history and safety, never from a questionnaire alone, and always with follow-up reviews booked so the dose and the plan can be adjusted.
How long do antidepressants take to work?
Antidepressants for depression usually take 4 to 6 weeks for their full effect. The first week or two can bring side effects such as nausea, headache or restless sleep before benefits appear, which is why your doctor reviews you early and stays in contact rather than leaving you to judge alone.
How long will I need to take antidepressants?
If an antidepressant works for your depression, the usual course continues for around 6 months after you feel well; stopping at the first good week is the classic route to relapse. Coming off is then planned and gradual with your doctor, over weeks rather than days, to avoid withdrawal-type symptoms.
How do I get out of depression, and what can I do myself?
Depression shrinks your world, and the counter-move is small and deliberate: one planned activity a day (a short walk, a shower and coffee outside, a message to one person), because in depression action comes before motivation. Regular exercise has solid evidence for mild to moderate depression, as do steady sleep and meal times, less alcohol and structured self-guided CBT. When low mood has lasted more than two weeks, add treatment rather than relying on willpower.
How long does depression last?
An untreated episode of depression typically lasts 6 to 12 months and can run longer; with treatment most people improve within 6 to 8 weeks and recover within a few months. About half of people who have had one episode of depression have another at some point, which is why finishing the course of treatment and keeping the habits that helped matters.
How can I stop depression coming back?
Finish the treatment course rather than stopping at the first good week, keep exercising, keep sleep regular, limit alcohol, stay connected with people, and learn your own early warning signs, such as withdrawing or sleeping badly, so you can act early. For recurrent depression, longer-term antidepressant treatment or maintenance CBT roughly halves the chance of another episode.
Is it depression, or could it be something else?
Low mood can come from an underactive thyroid, anaemia, vitamin deficiencies, sleep apnoea, some medicines, alcohol, grief, burnout or bipolar disorder, where periods of unusually high energy alternate with depression. The doctor asks about all of these at the first consultation and orders blood tests where needed, because treating the wrong thing wastes months.
Is depression different in pregnancy, after birth or in older people?
Depression in pregnancy and after birth is common and is treated rather than waited out, with therapy first and medication chosen with pregnancy or breastfeeding in mind, coordinated with your maternity services. In older people depression often shows as aches, poor sleep, memory complaints or irritability rather than sadness, and it is frequently mistaken for ageing; it responds to the same treatments.
How can I help someone with depression?
Help someone with depression by listening without fixing, keeping in contact even when they withdraw, offering practical help with small tasks, and gently encouraging them to see a doctor, perhaps by sitting with them while they book. Take any talk of suicide seriously: ask directly, stay with them, and call 112 if they have harmed themselves or cannot keep themselves safe.
Is a video assessment for depression as reliable as sitting in a clinic?
For assessing and managing mild to moderate depression, video consultations work well: the doctor uses the same structured questions used in clinics, and many people speak more freely at home. Severe depression, psychosis or safety concerns need in-person and specialist care, and the doctor says so plainly when that applies.
- Depression in adults: treatment and management (NG222), NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2022.
- Depressive disorder (depression): fact sheet, WHO, World Health Organization, 2023.
- Antenatal and postnatal mental health: clinical management and service guidance (CG192), NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014 (updated 2020).
- Exercise for depression (CD004366), Cochrane, Cochrane Collaboration, 2024.
- Mental disorders: fact sheet, WHO, World Health Organization, accessed August 2026.
- Depression in adults, NHS, National Health Service (UK), accessed October 2026.
This page is for information only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation. Guideline links are provided for transparency; treatment decisions are made with your doctor.
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Read article →Speak to a doctor about depression over video, usually within 15 minutes
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