Depression mistaken for being down in the dumps?

[AB Asks]

A professor has argued that many patients are being treated for depression when really they are just 'down in the dumps'. The symptoms of depression vary greatly from feeling tired, feeling blue to over eating and under eating - symptoms which all of us suffer at some point in our lives. It means that that someone could be being treated for depression when really they are just experiencing normal emotional states. What do you think? Is it too easy to get anti-depressants? Or do we underestimate how hard it is for doctors to distinguish between depression and a low couple of months?

[~Wingnut~]

Are you related to Doc Spock?

[B00]

rodl wingy, i was just going to ask if this professor was related to dic (sic) spock, you beat me to it.

[Octavius]

People would prefer to be told they are �suffering� from depression than they are just having the blues and are fed up. It is a societal obsession with labelling I think.

It is difficult for doctors. If they tell someone to trot along and pull their socks up and then that person goes and tops themselves, there are negligence issues. Far easier to prescribe some anti-depressants and hope it helps, or even some smarties and let the placebo effect occur.

[Cockney_si]

I read that artical in todays paper.

Sometimes deppresion can be linked to other factors and is short term yes.

If doctors are handing out anti-depressants like smarties then there surely they should be trained on how to understand the true signs of a deppressed person that genuinely needs help.

[MrBen5]

Hmmm, i think its very easy to get anything off a doctor these days.
I know loads of people who can get basically anything they want off a doctor.
There are people at work who actually plan when their next weeks off sick will be...

[toonmilo]

Saw my doctor a few months ago as i was very depressed over the change of the Sports Section on Answerbank. He just ignored me. I even tried emailing him to discuss it but still no reply!
He carried on speaking to other people though! But he obviously didnt want to discuss the matter with all those who felt the same as i did.
I will keep trying to drop hints and hopefully i will end up engaging in some form of conversation with this Doctor to enable myself to be relieved of this terrible depression!


Now then.....................I wonder what hints i can drop??

[natalie_1982]

I don't know how hard it is to distinguish between being down in the dumps or being depressed. I think some people find it easier to "snap out of it" and cope than others.

When I was younger (around 15 or 16 I think) my GP wanted to treat me for depression and presribed me anti-depressants, which I never took. I asked him for somebody professional to talk to because I had a lot of problems at home; not once did I ask for medication, just for somebody to help me sort out my little brain.

Luckily, I am the sort of person who dusts myself down and gets on with things. Generally I don't feel down and if I do I can (usually) easily find things to distract me / cope / solve the problem. Sadly I think some people don't have coping mechanisms and so do find it hard to move on, when they tend to get bogged down in the negative that is now.

[~Wingnut~]

I think depression can sometimes depend on events currently happening in your life.
If someone is experiencing some tough times (divorce, illness, loss of a loved one) then yes I think this would cause someone to become depressed. To just be depressed when nothing in particular has happened should maybe be investigated a bit further by the doctor as it could be something else causing the symptoms.

[eyeshade]

Well we have someone off with depression at the moment at work, she deigned to show her face for half a day this week and was laughing and joking the same as everyone else, her depressions coincide with school holidays funnily enough and the tears are turned on for the doctor who happily prescribes for her and certificates at the same time. As she was supposed to be on holiday for the last two weeks, she has now said she wants a further two weeks holiday as she has been so sick!!! (of course legally she is entitled to this and she knows it!) And don't say she is ill because I know she isn't. SO I AGREE WITH HIM, I am sure the majority are putting it on which spoils it for the few who are genuinely sick.

[effervescenc]

Everything is diagnosed and labelled too easily. People want to be labelled depressed rather than just accepting they're feeling a bit miserable or ugly on a particular day. You hear about these celebrities who go out and get drunk on ONE night and then check themselves into rehab the next day - oh no I got drunk last night I must be an alcoholic. It's just labelling and in reality we are no more depressed than we were years ago we just know more about depression, alcoholism etc... and want to be diagnosed with it.

[Lonnie]

In some cases, he's possibly right, but with real depression, without treatment, you get highs and lows, at least thats how it is with me, what made me go to the docs, was i'd been sitting doing nothing, then everything just welled up, and I wrecked the house, smashed it to smithereens,
I was prescribed Prozac, but never took it, because of my job, now I go for long walks, and immerse myself in sport and other things, to keep my mind occupied.


Thats not just being in the 'dumps'.

[shk]

accept the answers so far but it took 20 years for me to be diagnosed and I went through hell til then so pills aren't just dished out, not at my doctors anyway!

[curiosity]

You don't have to cry or be sad all the time to be suffering from depression, Depression, like back pain, is difficult to diagnose, and therefore attracts suspicion as to it's genuiness in terms of a persons sickness levels. I have 23 years mental health experience, and the people who concern me the most don't always cry, or show any particular sadness, they do laugh at jokes, and some days are positively happy, they have put make up on etc etc. Yet they are empty and "going through the motions of live". It's difficult for a GP to diagnose real depression because depression is something that on a spectrum from minor to major affects functioning, and it's hard for a GP to get to know or understand how you normally live your life, it's probably better to take along a good friend to tell them you've changed.