The prospect of starting a new drug to treat a mental-health condition can feel both hopeful and daunting. On the upside, you may feel encouraged about the possibility of finding a treatment that will help you feel and function better. But you may also be concerned about whether it will actually work for you or whether you’ll experience unpleasant side effects . “For a lot of people dealing with mental-health-related concerns, it can be helpful to have discussions about these issues up front,” says Dr. Alexsandra Kovacevich, a neuropsychiatrist at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University. “It’s important to have realistic expectations.” After all, people can have different responses to mental-health medications, according to the National Institute of Mental Health . And sometimes people may need to try more than one drug to find one that effectively treats symptoms without causing major side effects.…