Objective：To observe the clinical effect and safety of acupuncture in method of regulating mentality and smoothing liver combined with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors(SSRI)medications for depression.Methods：Selected 82 cases of patients with depression together with liver qi stagnation syndrome or depression debilitating mentality syndrome，and divided them into the treatment group and the control group randomly，41 cases in each group.Both groups received SSRI medications，while the treatment group additionally received acupuncture in method of regulating mentality and smoothing liver.The treatment for both groups lasted for 6 weeks.Before treatment and in the 1st，2nd，4thand 6thweek after treatment，evaluated the status of depression in patients and safety via 24-item Hamilton depression scale(HAMD)and Asberg side-effect rating scale(SERS).Results：After treatment for 6 weeks，the clinical effect in the treatment group was better than that in the control group，difference being significant(P＜0.05).In the 1stweek of treatment，scores of HAMD in the treatment group were lower than those before treatment，difference being significant(P＜0.01)，and there was no significant difference being found in the control group before and after treatment(P＞0.05).In the 2nd，4thand 6thweek of treatment，scores of HAMD in both groups were lower than those before treatment，differences being significant(P＜0.05).In the 1stand 6thweek of treatment，scores of HAMD in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group，differences being significant(P＜0.05).After treatment for 1 week，scores of SERS in the treatment group were all lower than those in the control group，differences being significant(P＜0.01).Conclusion：The application of acupuncture in method of regulating mentality and smoothing liver combined with SSRI medications for depression with liver qi stagnation syndrome or depression debilitating mentality syndrome can improve the clinical cure rate，improve the symptoms of depression and reduce the side effects of medications，which is a safe and effective therapeutic method.