acorn

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I have a question for the more experienced members of the forum.

In life all humans get depressed/blues/down we all have these periods, but
my question is how do we know if we just are suffering from general and
normal depression which we all get and that which is something deeper which
could be resolved by taking therapy/counciling/psychiatric work?

Do most people get depressed at some point or not? I find that as its
something most guys definitely do not talk about between themselves, at
least not that I've discovered it is dificult to find these answers.

Rgds

scott

I think most people may feel depressed at some point in their lives, some
will be confusing depression and melancholy, but others will actually be
depressed in the medically recognised sense.

I believe that depression without cause, or depression as a result of a
persons nature, is very rare. The likelyhood is that if you are depressed
you would benefit from seeing a therapist/councellor/psychiatrist, the
confusion comes in knowing which of these to consult and then which one of
those. In the case of a therapist you really must trust them and be willing
to proceed with the process, and I would suppose it helps to trust a
psychiatrist also. If only for your own peace of mind.

I hope this is helpful, and I hope it's accurate..
Scott.

acorn

So in general people who can get depression from time to time, could benefit
from therapy of some sort most likely from what you say.
The likelyhood is that if you are depressed> you would benefit from seeing a therapist/councellor/psychiatrist, the

I think that is one of the more difficult things to work out.


In the case of a therapist you really must trust them and be willing

There again that is part of the difficulty in finding one that you are suited for..


Yes it is very helpful thanks very much scott.

geoff firman

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in my experience, there is an extremely clear line between general
sadness, which everyone gets from time to time, and serious depression.
i can cope with garden-variety blues...depression on the other hand,
cripples me. there is no question about it being an illness, no
different than other diseases. the thing that bugs me most about it is
that i am apparently going to have to be on AD meds for the rest of my
days.
incidentally, the new dose of prozac is finally starting to work a bit.
i'm still not sure we've got the amount right yet, but i am feeling a
bit better.

geoff/

humble.life

I'm hoping not me too. But it probably will be me too. iyswim.

whiskers

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In uk.people.support.depression on Saturday 20 Sep 2003 6:06 pm, Acorn

snip

I think it's unfortunate that the same word is used to describe both the
sort of passing mood that everyone gets from time to time, usually for some
fairly obvious reason, and the sort of illness that tends to last for a
significant period, or recur, and doesn't necessarily have any obvious
cause. I try to differentiate by giving the illness a capital D when I'm
writing about it.

The distinction between the two is probably best left to doctors; there are
diagnostic methods to help tell them apart.

There are on-line 'tests' that one can use to get some sort of objective
measure, by comparing one's results at different times, but I don't think
it is possible to use them to self-diagnose. This is one site:
<http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.screening.html>.

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acorn

I'm sorry to here that, but how can they be so sure as to say something so definite?


I'm glad its working/kicking in..

tim

I see where you are coming from.However the symptom severity is more
significant than whether the depression is caused by situational
factors or not.When i met Brenda it was in Runwell hospital.She had
made a dozen sauicide attempts in a couple of months due to the highly
tramautic situation she was in.Her's was depression for an obvious
reason but it certainly wasn't minor depression.She also had to be
admitted when her first husband left her for another woman leaving her
to cope with two toddlers and sod all money.
The truth is situational depression can be every bit as bad as the no
obvious cause type.;Also one has to factor in the original
environmental trigger for illnesses such as bipolar/major depression ie
the match that lights the fire-often this is due to a background of
some kind of abuse whether it be physical,sexual or verbal ie the
situation they have experienced within the family.


Unfortunately the diagnostic methods all too often rely on the dsm or
icd which are the mental health equivalent of the ingredients for a
Delia Smith recipe.It all too often simplifies and not benificially
what is a highly complex area of medicine.

If you mean the Goldberg depression/mania scales these are meant for
noticing changes in level of mood between one point in time and another
though answers to the questions taken in isolation
give a good idea as to the situation re depression/mania and whether
the indiviual may have reason to see their gp or not about depression
etc.

acorn

I think it is a complex subject and probably deeper than most people think.
I just found it a useful to try to diffeentiate between
the two types.

whiskers

In uk.people.support.depression on Sunday 21 Sep 2003 2:50 am, Tim


snip

I agree.

Some people can be 'triggered' into Depression (the serious illness) by
events that other people might recover from fairly quickly. I suspect that
there is a genetic 'predisposition' involved, at least sometimes, and that
bad things happening in childhood are often involved too.

Rather like the chicken and the egg, it's difficult to work out which came
first - and usually not all that important, when it comes to coping with
what's happening in the present.

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