Just as aspirin can reduce a fever without clearing up the infection that causes it, psychotherapeutic medications act by controlling symptoms. Like most drugs used in medicine, they correct or compensate for some malfunction in the body. Psychotherapeutic medications do not cure mental health problems, but they do lessen its burden. The degree of response, ranging from little relief of symptoms to complete remission, depends on a variety of factors related to the individual and the particular disorder being treated.

How long someone must take a psychotherapeutic medication depends on the disorder. Many depressed or anxious people may need medication for a single period—perhaps for several months—and then never have to take it again. For some conditions, such as schizophrenia or manic-depressive illness, medication may have to be taken indefinitely or, perhaps, intermittently.