I don't know either. I'm aware that some people get their antidepressants stabilized to the point where they only have to see the psychiatrist every 6-12 months. That has NOT been my experience... in 8 years of struggling with depression, I've never gotten off the every 4-6 week psychiatry plan.

From what I've read, there are people who have a single episode of depression, recover from it, and don't have further episodes. The research I've seen seems to indicate that the more episodes of depression a person has, the more likely they are to have future struggles with depression... I think it at least partly has to do with changes that happen in the brain. But, there's also research out there about the incredible plasticity of the brain... how it can heal and form new neural pathways.

For myself, I think after 8 years of struggling with this, I've realized that there's a good chance that I'll continue to have periods of depression in the future... I think at some point my goal changed from complete cure to managing it and coping with it more gracefully.
Sorry to ramble on!
garden gal