Do you think depression is overdiagnosed?!


Question: I think I may have a mild form of depression but I still manage to get on with life. I feel better longer if I'm doing my regular work outs. It seems like depression may be overdiagnosed. What do you think? My grandmother was diagnosed with severe depression. She really was. She couldn't do anything normal. She was just deeply sad. When she started medication, in a month, she was getting back to her regular self. I noticed a big difference but it did take a good 4 weeks.


Answers: I think I may have a mild form of depression but I still manage to get on with life. I feel better longer if I'm doing my regular work outs. It seems like depression may be overdiagnosed. What do you think? My grandmother was diagnosed with severe depression. She really was. She couldn't do anything normal. She was just deeply sad. When she started medication, in a month, she was getting back to her regular self. I noticed a big difference but it did take a good 4 weeks.

Your Grandmother had clinical depression but that doesn't mean you do. If exercise works just be committed to doing it regularly. All medications are poison and should be avoided as much as possible. I've seen a lot of cases where medication was prescribed where just a life style change would have solved the problem. I have watched people over the years and those who took little to no medication aged much better than those who used meds regularly. Chronic dehydration should be addressed before any medication is prescribed. The brain is one of the last signs of chronic dehydration and the first to recover when hydrated properly. Half your body weight in Oz's of purified water daily is the key to eliminating 98% of illnesses.

yes

It probably is, yes...but at the same time there are sooo many people out there who truly do suffer from depression--such as your grandmother--who never get the help they need.

My mother suffered from chronic depression and she never got help, was never offered help, no one ever told her help was out there. Therefore she abused the hell out of me. Worst case scenario about over-diagnosing depression is that there would be lots of people out there on the wrong meds.

Yes, it is overdiagnoised.

I have a friend who was put on antidepressants after having boyfriend trouble. The meds messed her moods up even more and she told the doctor she wanted to get off the medicine. The doctor said "no way, you have to be on it for 6 months at least."

Now I don't know a whole lot about medicine as I'm not a doctor, but I definitely thing that they (and the patients) are so eager to just swallow little pills to cure their problems. Everyone encounters hardships in some form or another. I don't think we should drug ourselves up all the time.

There are people out there who really need the meds to feel better, but we greatly overestimate the number of people who do.

That's a toughie. To me, it depends on your age. Like...if you're a teenager/young adult...I would say that you are just going through what every person that age goes through. If you are older...you might want to go to the doctor just in case. Better to be safe than sorry. Depression also seems to run in your family so this is something to keep in mind too.

no it is not... there ARE different levels of depression... however, dependinding on the type of depression and of course the person...you may be able to cope with and overcome depression differently. some need the madication from the get-go and other, like you, can manage by just keeping themselves occupied. but if it gets any worse, you should seek treatment before gets worse

Yes , but there is alot of people in the world who suffer from it .

Depression is something everyone experiences. Mild depression is best managed with exercise and diet, positive thinking and so forth as you are doing. It's not a matter of whether it is overdiagnosed, it's an issue of whether it's medicated. Personally, I believe natural ways are best tried first, especially if it's mild. It's situational depression that I believe doctors hand out pills too quickly. This is something that therapy often can resolve in a more meaningful and life lasting way... but insurance often doesn't foot the bill and ppl have a hard time setting aside their egos apparently. Still, why ingest something if not necessary. Then there is major depression and recurring depression that are best treated with medication and therapy. Of course, exercise and nutrition factor into treating all. So....... overdiagnosed, maybe not, but over-medicated, yes, I agree.

medication is given too freely to people that just could do with people to talk too.unfortunatly therapy is more expensive to the goverment.mabey they wiil make robot therapists that say yes yes ummm ummmm.take these.

I think it is.... I think that doctors are so quick to snap at the judgement that people need to be medicated for depression if they have a bad day (or two). I think that they also use depression as a cop-out for actually helping people deal with issues at hand. My sister was going through a horrible divorce from a horrible man... instead of her doctor counseling her or referring her to a counselor, he medicated her so she would just sleep through the pain. I think that doctors also over diagnose children with adhd when a little bit of discipline is all thats truly needed.

Yes 1/3 of NHS prescriptions in the uk are for antidepressants. People go to the doctor expecting to get a pill and if they don't they complain. Its so much easier for a doctor to just prescribe a pill and keep them happy when really the person just needs to be advised to exercise more, make use of social support and perhaps even try some talking therapies.

Too many people in today's society are far too eager to deal with their problems by popping a pill. We don't protest anymore, don't try and resolve issues that we are unhappy with. We just numb ourselves to the effects.

If you look at the drug trials for antidepressants, there's a lot of research evidence claiming that patients improve just as efficiently with a placebo as to an anti depressant which further enforces that anti depressants are being prescribed where they are not needed xx

I have major depressive disorder. It is a real thing. Like other ppl have said here there are many different levels of it and because there are no blood tests for it you can't really know for sure who has it and who don't. Working out is a great way to keep happier though because it releases endorphins that make you feel happy. Same with sunlight but that's because of the vitamines you get from the sun.
There is medications (and a lot of them) to help treat depression but they aren't right for everyone. It depends on the reasons for the depression and how it affects your life. You should ask to see a therapist before talking about medication because they will figure out if it is something that has a reason or if it's because of a chemical imballence. Some people have both, as I do. I went to the therapist and took meds. After 7 years of living with it, hospitalized twice, I finially found a way to live normally.
Depression is misdiagnosed though, just because people want an easy fix and there's the pills! You really have to be careful about them though because if you shouldn't be on them it will mess up your personality and in some cases make the depression way worse. It takes a lot of trial and error to get the right meds when it come to depression. It's not all a loss though. It's hard, but you get through it. I didn't think I ever would. I will have this for the rest of my life, but now I know how to cope with it. :)

yeah i think so. some people have a rough week and they say they are depressed and they run to the drs office to get some anit-depressants. sometimes we have to snap ourselves out of a rut and not depend on medication to do it for us. I have had depression ever since i was a kid...and i'm just now trying meds to see if it will help. i hate the idea of being on medication, but i kinda hope they work.

Yes, I do think it is overdiagnosed. But then again, it is a disease and does exist, but I just don't think as many people have it as they say.

When I saw my first therapist, I was in my early 20s and the psychologist decided to put me on med within the first 15 minutes of talking to me. How could he possibly know me that soon? Anyway, I had some stuff going on in my life and I was not happy, but life still went on. I think after I first went to therapy, I kind of used the depression as an excuse for awhile...(I was young) and it is so self-indulgent.

I stopped therapy for awhile (8 years) and recently went back. I am not happy with my therapist now. I like her as a person, but she really coddles me. I think I have some form of depression and I am not happy with my life. But I'm looking for someone to help me get over it and just deal with it. My therapist constantly says..."take it easy, relax, have some fun." Those things are important. But right now, I have some financial hurdles I am trying to overcome. I am working full time and going to school . yes, relaxing is important, but my therapist is acting like it is okay if I get behind to have some fun. And I don't think it is. The only way that I will achieve my goals is to work hard.

I'm sorry to go on and on. I just really agree that depression is overdiagnosed. And I have encounter many people that just use this excuse to be lazy.

As far as you are concerned, I am not qualified to give advice, being that I am not a medical professional. But, you may have a mild form of depression. But, it sounds like you are aware and responsible enough to realize that life goes on. And life can be difficult and stressful.

As far as the meds, note that meds have different effects on different people. In some ways, i think the meds that I first went on made me worse. So, it may take you some time to find the right medication.

I am depressed too and I am 19 yrs old but I still manage to always motivate myself and still manage to get on with life.

I think depression is overdiagnosed or underdiagnosed in some cases. I think its normal to be depressed every once in a while





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