hi. I think dosage would depend on what symptoms show up in your depression. agitation, psychosis, trepidation, anxiety, mood instability, weight loss...then I'd consider increasing the tranquilizer.

if its apathy, lethargy, inability to concentrate, weight gain...I'd consider asking about something else.

my former shrink told me that lower doses of abilify are more "activating," and then the higher doses are better if you have lots of agitation, hypomania, psychosis, etc. basically, at the higher doses, abilify is a cleaned up tranquilizer that -some- people are able to tolerate better than full doses of some other tranquilizers (less sedation, fewer metabolic problems, usually less EPS, etc.).

age is an issue, too. as people get older, the risk of TD goes up, especially for women and people w/ mood disorders.

other drugs in the mix can affect abilify blood levels. I noticed I felt less tranquilized once I dropped wellbutrin. wellbutrin (like most antidepressants...) boosts Abilify blood levels a good bit.

hope this helps, and...sorry you're suffering.