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Is Depression OVER-DIAGNOSED?

Is it possible that Depression is being Over-Diagnosed?
i Personally feel it definitely is, the amount of times ive heard someone spout the word 'depression', or i am so 'depressed'! Ive heard people Say they are depression over menial things.
Here are a few sources that back my claim up;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2534408/Depression-diagnosed-drugs-dished-patients-simply-sad-unable-sleep-warns-expert.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/study-most-people-diagnosed-with-depression-do-not-actually-meet-criteria/275436/

https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2014/01/08/depression-over-diagnosed-and-over-treated/

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I think one of the problems is the material culture where we are never able to feel satisfied with what we have and what we earn.
Yes it is, especially in young women, who just lack emotional strength and resilience.
Original post by richpanda
Yes it is, especially in young women, who just lack emotional strength and resilience.


This! i work in a call centre part time, and i have lost count of the amount of times i have seen women cry on the phone because of a rude customer.
Ive always wondered, why they took it so seriously.
Yes, I think there is a good argument to be made that it is. There is a tendency to assume that the "normal" ups and downs of life should be medicalised. And doctors do love reaching for their scripts to hand out a course of antidepressants.

However I am thinking about mild/moderate cases. I suspect there are plenty of people out there really suffering with serious depression that do not seek advice or help. Plenty of potential reasons for this: stigma, embarrassment, crappy mental health care provision, etc.
Original post by Quantex
Yes, I think there is a good argument to be made that it is. There is a tendency to assume that the "normal" ups and downs of life should be medicalised. And doctors do love reaching for their scripts to hand out a course of antidepressants.

However I am thinking about mild/moderate cases. I suspect there are plenty of people out there really suffering with serious depression that do not seek advice or help. Plenty of potential reasons for this: stigma, embarrassment, crappy mental health care provision, etc.


Definitely, Ive always felt the people who make their depression to the public such as Facebook, twitter etc, could possibly not really be depressed, but using the word depression as a blanket for their own selfish reasons!
Original post by BlackSweetness
This! i work in a call centre part time, and i have lost count of the amount of times i have seen women cry on the phone because of a rude customer.
Ive always wondered, why they took it so seriously.


Maybe customers are more rude when they reach a woman on the phone? Or women happen to be closer to their emotions (which is not a weak thing).

I can't comment on if it's being over diagnosed because I'm not a medical professional. Most people who seek help are genuinely desperate.
Definitely. I was checking out a video the other day about big pharma and depression and how they're making billions a year with all types of depression drugs which have led to some normal people being prescribed them and then committing suicide
I knew a girl who was diagnosed with "depression". But it was more that she lacked the confidence to go outside and socialise. Her reason for her not going outside was that she had an anxiety disorder, and the messed but belief that hiding from the problem was the cure. She also used it as a reason not to work, and instead lived on benefits.

Safe to say I left her behind and moved on with my life. You can't help someone who isn't willing to help them self.
Original post by mscaffrey
Maybe customers are more rude when they reach a woman on the phone? Or women happen to be closer to their emotions (which is not a weak thing).

I can't comment on if it's being over diagnosed because I'm not a medical professional. Most people who seek help are genuinely desperate.


Im not sure about that! ive listened in to a few calls, and i would definitely say there isnt a difference between men and women. While in almost all cases, males have laughed it off, while women have gotten quite emotional
Reply 10
My own mental health nurse says that depression is overdiagnosed. I was diagnosed with it originally but it was a wrong diagnosis.
Reply 11
No but doctors are quick to shove medication down everyone's throat so by default you ALWAYS have something wrong with you cos they need the money from somewhere...
Reply 12
no it's not you fool
Anti-depressants saved my life.
Original post by queen-bee
Definitely. I was checking out a video the other day about big pharma and depression and how they're making billions a year with all types of depression drugs which have led to some normal people being prescribed them and then committing suicide


Its just one big Cobweb of lies in my opinion!
Original post by Airmed
My own mental health nurse says that depression is overdiagnosed. I was diagnosed with it originally but it was a wrong diagnosis.


The fact your Mental Health Nurse said that to you proves it is, and theres a massive flaw in the system!
opinion?
Reply 17
Original post by BlackSweetness
The fact your Mental Health Nurse said that to you proves it is, and theres a massive flaw in the system!


It's to do with a lack of funding and a lack of care. GP hand out antidepressants so easily nowadays.

I do find it offensive when people use the word 'depression' etc in every day conversation. I might not have full blown depression because I'm extremely highly functioning but I do have terrible, dark days. Days I wish no one got.

Edit: I don't mean any offence here.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Airmed
It's to do with a lack of funding and a lack of care. GO hand out antidepressants so easily nowadays.

I do find it offensive when people use the word 'depression' etc in every day conversation. I might not have full blown depression because I'm extremely highly functioning but I do have terrible, dark days. Days I wish no one got.


Could be!
Everyone gets dark days, and most people go through it fine, but i honestly feel its hurtful for people to spout 'Depression' left, right and centre especially when they have not been properly accessed. It reduces the relevance of the word IMO
They do tend to diagnose people with depression (+ anxiety) far too quickly in my honest opinion. But the increasing numbers of people being diagnosed with depression (or anxiety, or both) could just be increasing as people are far more aware of it, and aware of the symptoms, so they ask for help rather than waiting around for it to improve (which it usually doesn't, not on its own anyway).

Problem is, due to how the NHS is structured with regards to MH care, a lot more people are getting put on medication to cope with their MH issues when sometimes it just makes the entire situation worse. It'd be far more beneficial if they were able to see a therapist and/or counsellor for their issues (when they're more mild/mild-moderate) to gain the skills to cope with whatever is going on, but these provisions are few and far between. Even with things like IAPT being introduced, people are still not getting the correct psychological interventions they need, and are therefore being forced down the medical route. That and the NHS generally don't offer nearly enough types psychological therapies and therefore people are being forced to pay out of their own pocket (if they're able to), or wait months for charities to help them - which can also make depression worse due to hopelessness.

Basically, MH care in the UK is poor and generally, the GP in your surgery doesn't have enough psychiatric knowledge to correctly diagnose you when you present with varying symptoms, so it's easier just to slap on a label of depression (+ anxiety) when it might not be that at all, and it might actually be something else entirely. Hence, depression is over-diagnosed because the GPs don't have sufficient training, and more often than not most people don't move from primary care services (so GP) up to secondary (e.g. CMHTs) or even tertiary services (e.g. inpatient units) and never get the correct diagnosis/diagnoses as they never see a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist.

Oh, and a lot of people like to overdramatise situations - e.g. they'll say they're depressed, when they're not, they're just sad (and probably aren't diagnosed with clinical depression). Emotions (such as sadness and happiness) are short-lived and in response to certain events, depression is an affective mood disorder and moods are more long-lasting and not directly related to certain events. Hence, being sad generally doesn't disable you (it's too short-lived for it to be disabling), being clinically depressed does (I'm pretty sure the WHO said it was the number 1 cause of disability globally. I need to find that source*).

But yeah, it is over-diagnosed. Not through the fault of the patient though, this is due to the system itself.

Sorry for the essay, lol.

* http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs369/en/
(edited 8 years ago)

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