What treatment involves, honestly

Nobody makes you do anything, and nobody is going to tell you to pray harder. The usual options are talking treatment, medication, or both, and here is the honest state of the evidence on the second and the third, including the parts the authors themselves flag.

Qur’an and Sunnah

أَيَّامࣰ ا مَّعۡدُودَٰتࣲۚ فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوۡ عَلَىٰ سَفَرࣲ فَعِدَّةࣱ مِّنۡ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَۚ وَعَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُۥ فِدۡيَةࣱ طَعَامُ مِسۡكِينࣲۖ فَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيۡرࣰ ا فَهُوَ خَيۡرࣱ لَّهُۥۚ وَأَن تَصُومُواْ خَيۡرࣱ لَّكُمۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ

Fast for a specific number of days, but if one of you is ill, or on a journey, on other days later. For those who can fast only with extreme difficulty, there is a way to compensate- feed a needy person. But if anyone does good of his own accord, it is better for him, and fasting is better for you, if only you knew

Qur’an 2:184

شَهۡرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِيٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانُ هُدࣰ ى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَٰتࣲ مِّنَ ٱلۡهُدَىٰ وَٱلۡفُرۡقَانِۚ فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّهۡرَ فَلۡيَصُمۡهُۖ وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوۡ عَلَىٰ سَفَرࣲ فَعِدَّةࣱ مِّنۡ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَۗ يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُمُ ٱلۡيُسۡرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ ٱلۡعُسۡرَ وَلِتُكۡمِلُواْ ٱلۡعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُواْ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمۡ وَلَعَلَّكُمۡ تَشۡكُرُونَ

It was in the month of Ramadan that the Quran was revealed as guidance for mankind, clear messages giving guidance and distinguishing between right and wrong. So any one of you who is present that month should fast, and anyone who is ill or on a journey should make up for the lost days by fasting on other days later. God wants ease for you, not hardship. He wants you to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him for having guided you, so that you may be thankful

Qur’an 2:185

Narrated Abu Huraira:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment

Sahih al-Bukhari 5678graded sound, sahihaynfull report

Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.

What the research says

Cipriani A, Furukawa TA, Salanti G, Chaimani A, Atkinson LZ, Ogawa Y, and others (2018). Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 21 antidepressant drugs for the acute treatment of adults with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. The Lancet, 391(10128), 1357 to 1366 doi

All 21 antidepressants studied did better than placebo for adults in an acute episode. The authors raise the limits themselves: most of the trials ran for eight weeks, most were funded by the companies making the drugs, and the size of the benefit is modest rather than dramatic. Both halves of that are the honest answer to do antidepressants work.

Cuijpers P, Noma H, Karyotaki E, Vinkers CH, Cipriani A, Furukawa TA (2020). A network meta-analysis of the effects of psychotherapies, pharmacotherapies and their combination in the treatment of adult depression. World Psychiatry, 19(1), 92 to 107 doi

Talking treatment and medication together did better than either on its own. That is worth knowing, because people are often pushed to choose between the two as though they were rival loyalties.