Patients who believe that medication can help to treat their depression are more open with their providers.  

Patient beliefs about depression

If a patient believes that the provider is capable of facilitating treatment for depression, then the patient will be more open with their provider, will feel closer to the provider, and will place more confidence in their provider's abilities.  If the patient believes that the provider believes their depression symptoms, then their bond will be greater, they will be more open with the provider, and there will be more shared decision-making in terms of treatment.

Grand Valley State University

When treating depression in a primary care setting, the patient-provider relationship is critical to achieving positive treatment outcomes.  A few different things play a role in the quality of a patient-provider relationship, namely the beliefs of the patient and the characteristics of the provider.  

The role of patient beliefs about depression and provider characteristics in patient-provider relationships

King, P. A. L., Cederbaum, J. A., Kurzban, S., Norton, T., Palmer, S. C., & Coyne, J. C. (2015). Role of patient treatment beliefs and provider characteristics in establishing patient–provider relationships. Family Practice, 32(2), 224-231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmu085

Role of patient treatment beliefs and provider characteristics in establishing patient–provider relationships

Some important provider characteristics in terms of depression treatment were a sense of comfort and caring, as well as empathy and respect.  It's important for patients to be put at ease by a provider rather than being made uncomfortable, and to feel like their provider cares about their symptoms.  Likewise, it's important that providers convey humanity rather than being too mechanical or treating their patient like a box to be checked off. 

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