3 ms·
A test can't be done in a lab on bloods but most of the time you can usually see the signs simply by observation and just talking to the person. I say the real
by jwdunne 14y ago
A test can't be done in a lab on bloods but most of the time you can usually see the signs simply by observation and just talking to the person.
I say the real problem is that it's hard to treat.
When you see a close family member or friend suffering, you can't force them to go the doctors, where depression would certainly be diagnosed, and many often just don't go.
The standard set of medication for depression usually takes a couple of weeks to kick in. It's common to see symptoms worsen before they get better during this timeframe. It's gut wrenching to watch if you have personal experience with it.
Effective therapies require effort from the sufferer. If you're feeling really low, it's hard to the put the effort into anything - drops in personal hygiene standards are not rare.
It sucks we don't have a test for it like we have for physical disease but I think a bigger problem is treatment, which is done in a "see what works" manner if the first line of defence doesn't work, which is really damaging when you consider the above.
- jtchang 14y agoAnd what I'm getting at is the fact that there SHOULD be a blood test. Or a biopsy. Or something more concrete. Is it not possible? I'd like scientific research to say that it is impossible.
- jwdunne 14y agoWhat I'm saying is a clear cut test would be great but it's not actually hard twit out it and a bigger problem is the treatment. I think the answer to both lies in the same area though, since the source of depression is not clear in the brain (I believe there was a study that shown SSRIs have an immediate effect on serotonin re-uptake yet takes a number of weeks to ease depression - implying serotonin doesn't play such a direct role as once believed).
- jtchang 14y agoWe have to study it from multiple angles. I don't have a problem with more research into SSRIs. Hell I don't even have a problem with SSRIs. The main issue I have is that people think our understanding of mental illness / psychiatry is as good as say pathology.
- jwdunne 14y agoOh I do not deny that at all. If it was, we both wouldn't be airing our distaste for diagnosis and treatment. The whole field is still very, very young so we can't expect the same advances as we have in other areas. My main point is that, from my own person experiences through the whole system, treatment seems the most broken aspect. Diagnosis of depression is possible without a blood-test, as are other physical illnesses, the signs are obvious. The treatment is not as trivial, you won't do well to "let it run it's course", the drugs are gruelling and may not even work and therapy requires drive a depressed person hasn't got.
- jrogers65 14y agoAnother aspect of depression is dependent on BDNF levels (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21749907 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21749907
- DenisM 14y agoWould you also like to have voltage readings as scientific explanation of an off-by-one error in software?