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Depressed children respond differently to rewards than other kids

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Re: Depressed children respond differently to rewards than other kids

#71

Post by mercer »

cairo_x wrote: post #42
stephengillie wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think my parents were just baffled, thought I was moody/cynical. > There needs to be a blood test, or something like it, rather than having to rely on baffled parents, or patients who might not even realize certain symptoms are even worth bringing up at all. And that's relying on the parents to even be looking for issues in their offspring. If they're narcissistic, the child could go undiagnosed.

You can't blame parents for their child's depression. You can't expect even the most seasoned psychiatric worker to be able to diagnose depression from sight. Currently self-reporting is the only way to diagnose. Observation simply doesn't work. There was a great doco on the BBC ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fm5ql ) where they had a house full of people with various different mental illnesses, and trained psyc…

I'll have to watch the documentary to be sure, but I find it hard to believe this is true.

Oftentimes, but definitely not always, it's surprising to me how easy it is to detect cases of childhood abuse, autism, bipolar disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder, based on very limited interaction.

Obviously one is never sure, but very often the symptoms are 'textbook' enough that at the very least an informed guess can be made.

I'm willing to say I'm entirely wrong about this though. It's just been my experience so far.

Re: Depressed children respond differently to rewards than other kids

#72

Post by cairo_x »

mercer wrote: post #71
cairo_x wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't blame parents for their child's depression. You can't expect even the most seasoned psychiatric worker to be able to diagnose depression from sight. Currently self-reporting is the only way to diagnose. Observation simply doesn't work. There was a great doco on the BBC ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fm5ql ) where they had a house full of people with various different mental illnesses, and trained psyc…

I'll have to watch the documentary to be sure, but I find it hard to believe this is true. Oftentimes, but definitely not always, it's surprising to me how easy it is to detect cases of childhood abuse, autism, bipolar disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder, based on very limited interaction. Obviously one is never sure, but very often the symptoms are 'textbook' enough that at the very least an informed gue…

I can understand being able to pick up on autism, and some personality disorders. Mood disorders -- unless there is obvious suicide or psychosis -- can be tricky though. Some people are just really energetic, and fit, and excitable. Some people act out their emotions more than others so it can seem more than it really is.

Giving unsolicited diagnoses puts you at risk of being accused of being a 'gaslighter', etc. In many cases it's like if you see a really skinny person and are convinced they are anorexic... Some people are just skinny, just like many people put on weight alarmingly easy.

And then there's malingering psychosis -- there's a horror film. I'm pretty sure I knew someone like this, but I could never say anything (I suspected they had BPD and were feigning psychosis.)

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