Definition of "clinical depression" ?
Q.I am a little confused about the definition of "clinical depression". Based on my personal experiences it has to be either: 1. Fatigue the cause of which does not show up on a the following tests: Chem 20, CBC, thyroid panel, and sed rate. 2. The condition of having an MD say: "You are depressed". Which of these are the correct definition?
A.No, definitely not. Depression is a psychiatric (psychological) disease that is a syndrome of characteristic mental function alteration. Certainly these tests could be useful to diagnose a disease that might mimic depression, but absence of organic disease in the presence of fatigue is totally insufficient for a diagnosis. Are you claiming that when an M.D. makes a diagnosis of depression that he/she is ALWAYS correct and that if the patient thinks that they are not depressed they are in denial? Hang on. There are plenty of issues where a refined diagnosis predicts prognosis, probability of treatment success, etc. For example, paedophiles attracted to males are significantly less likely to benefit from treatment than paedophiles attracted to females. Making the distinction part of the diagnostic code is, to my knowledge, unique to DSM. Yeah. Suicide rate in the general community is less than 1% per lifetime. Suicide rate in depression is 10-15%. Suicide rate in bipolar disorder is ~25%. That's in Australia. It's probably different in the US, where suicide is more common overall. If a person satisfies the DSM criteria for depression, I'd say there's a 99.5% chance that the person has the same disease as those people who are diagnosed with 'depression'. Part of the diagnostic criteria is that the symptoms are not better accounted for by a general medical illness, or by another psychiatric illness. If the person is a doctor: Take a full history from the patient, complete a full examination, investigate the patient as necessary to establish that there is no organic basis for the symptoms (like anaemia, hypothyroidism, etc). Whip out the list, and ask the specific questions in order. I know I do. The physicians are most amused when I give them a score out of 7 for the patient's depressive symptoms. Unlike most people, I screen most patients for depression. I think it's rather common in hospitals.
Other Questions :
More almost Drowned Babies , Postpartum Depression Cases
"This is not a child abuse case. This is a postpartum depression case," the judge told Thompson. "We want to walk you through this nightmare you've been through." Thompson appeared composed in court. In her purse was a magazine carrying t...
Clinical Depression /Yates ?
Depression is a serious medical illness. In contrast to the normal emotional experiences of sadness, loss, or passing mood states, clinical depression is persistent and can interfere significantly with an individual's ability to function. Sympt...
OCD AND MANIC DEPRESSION
Anyone know if people with OCD often suffer from manic depression?On another note... Has anyone been mistaken for a nasty drunk when they were just having a really bad anxiety attack? I ask because an OCD afflicted person in my life does s...
Placebo Effect & Brain Function ?
Placebo Effect & Brain Function ?Study shows short-term changes in brain activity in patients who have positive responses to placebos. The article didn't say if they knew whether these 'brain wave' changes (via the quantitative electroencepha...
Christmas depression ?
It is coming upon Christmas time, which used to be my favorite time of year, but this year I just don't have that Christmas spirit. There are a few reasons for this. Number one is, surprisingly, not the MonSter, though it plays a close second. ...