Nagi Guides
Practical guides for the parts nobody prepares you for — the appointment, the medication, the words that will not come.
There is a lot written about what depression is. There is much less about the practical parts — what to actually say in a ten-minute appointment, how to tell whether a medication is doing anything, what to write down when you cannot describe how you feel.
These guides cover those. They are not medical advice and they cannot tell you what you have. They are the things that would have been useful to know beforehand.
Talking to a doctor
Talking to a doctor about your mental health →
The opening sentence, what to bring, what to do when the words disappear, and how to use ten minutes when ten minutes is what you have.
How to tell your doctor you are depressed · How to prepare for the appointment · I freeze up at the doctor's · How to describe depression to a doctor · When ten minutes is not enough
Medication
Tracking how your medication is going →
The weeks after the prescription, when you cannot tell whether anything is working — what to watch, what to write down, and what is worth saying to whoever prescribed it.
Is my antidepressant working? · How long do they take to work? · Keeping a side-effect diary · Should I tell my doctor about side effects? · Keeping track of medication changes
When you cannot put it into words
When you cannot put it into words →
The parts that do not have obvious names — numbness, evenings, wanting company without wanting to speak, and the vocabulary problem underneath all of them.
Why do I feel nothing instead of sad? · Why do I feel worse in the evening? · I do not want to talk to anyone · Why can I not explain how I feel? · Is it depression or am I just tired? · What to write in a mood diary
Apps, privacy and waiting lists
Choosing a mental health app you can trust →
What to check before you type anything private into an app, what an email address actually costs you, and what to do while you are on a waiting list.
Apps that do not need an email · Is it safe to talk to an AI about depression? · What to do while you are on the waiting list
Who writes these
Richard MacLean, who created Nagi & Me and has spent 27 years working in medical devices and software as a medical device. Not a clinician — these are general information, and where they make a clinical claim they cite where it came from.
Longer, less practical writing lives on the Nagi desk.
Nagi is a mental health companion, not a medical device, and nothing here is medical advice. If you are struggling, please reach out to a professional or someone you trust.