ELI5: How anti-depressants can permanently fix an imbalance of chemicals?

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Yes they do.

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Not to be pedantic, but it's not "Setraline" levels. SSRI stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, so the Setraline (or other SSRI) is essentially artificially increasing the levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Anyways, depression is considered a transient mental affliction. While it can last years, it is usually never permanent.

Normally, the brain will correct itself, at which point the patient ought to be slowly weaned off the medication.

If the patient isn't ready to be off the medication but is taken off anyways, it can undo a lot of progress made in treating the depression.