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We Need to Have Sympathy for Those With Depression. It is an Illness

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Re: We Need to Have Sympathy for Those With Depression. It is an Illness

#3
Where are the clinical tests for depression? The diagnosis is solely based on the opinion of the practitioner, there is no brain scan or chemical test that can conclusively prove that someone is suffering from depression. The so called "drugs" used to treat depression are no better, they "are thought to work" (big pharma phrases it this way in their own TV ads) by re-balancing the brain's chemistry, but in actual fact they have never been able to prove this with scientific TESTS.

So yes, people get sad sometimes, it's a fact of life, but maybe if we stopped prescribing them powerful mind altering narcotics that have FDA black warning label that say right on the box that they increase the risk of suicide, maybe they wouldn't take their own lives in such huge numbers.

EDIT: Relevant link, please get ALL the facts before you go see a shrink about your "depression": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHu7Ik36128

Re: We Need to Have Sympathy for Those With Depression. It is an Illness

#4

BS. Everything that could be lifted by CBT is just ignorance and lack of determination. Medication without changing of habits is the same as drinking - it only masks the symptoms temporarily.

That is a highly uninformed opinion.

Re: We Need to Have Sympathy for Those With Depression. It is an Illness

#5

BS. Everything that could be lifted by CBT is just ignorance and lack of determination. Medication without changing of habits is the same as drinking - it only masks the symptoms temporarily.

That is a highly uninformed opinion.

I think it's actually highly well informed, Psychiatrists themselves admit there's nothing scientific about the whole "brain chemistry imbalance" bullshit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzdu3WQyIZg&list=PLFD5944...

Re: We Need to Have Sympathy for Those With Depression. It is an Illness

#6
The problem with depression is that it is hard to diagnose. If anything we are still in the dark ages of mental illness. If you have an infection we have a way to tell you what infection. Right now there is no way to test for depression.

More scientific research is definitely needed.

Re: We Need to Have Sympathy for Those With Depression. It is an Illness

#7

Where are the clinical tests for depression? The diagnosis is solely based on the opinion of the practitioner, there is no brain scan or chemical test that can conclusively prove that someone is suffering from depression. The so called "drugs" used to treat depression are no better, they "are thought to work" (big pharma phrases it this way in their own TV ads) by re-balancing the brain's chemistry, but in actual fac…

The clinical tests are easy to find:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64063/

Re: We Need to Have Sympathy for Those With Depression. It is an Illness

#9
post #6

The problem with depression is that it is hard to diagnose. If anything we are still in the dark ages of mental illness. If you have an infection we have a way to tell you what infection. Right now there is no way to test for depression. More scientific research is definitely needed.

We are no more in the "dark ages of mental illness". You must be kidding. Before we used to burn people who were mentally deficient and heard voices or had hallucinations as they were thought to be possessed by the Devil. That was the "dark ages of mental illness" you are talking about. There is now information, testing, diagnostic methods everywhere available, and efficient medication. Keep yourself up to date.

Re: We Need to Have Sympathy for Those With Depression. It is an Illness

#10
Already this thread has replies that are trotting out the usual "depression is just sadness" or "CBT is nonsense".

The UK NHS National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (http://www.nice.org.uk/) gathers evidence of cost effectiveness (using quality adjusted life years) for various treatments.

They are pretty clear - CBT is excellent for mild depression; CBT and medication combined is more effective than either treatment alone for moderate to severe depression.

The Cochrane Collaboration (http://www.cochrane.org/) carefully investigates all the research, judges its quality, and publishes a meta analysis. They're pretty clear that CBT is effective.

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