There is a common misconception that all depression is biological in origin: a simple deficiency in certain brain chemicals. Too often it is treated as a homogenous illness, not a spectrum of disorders with biological and / or non-biological causes.
I found an interesting article by “Boring Old Man” (otherwise anonymous) that addresses this issue in a historical perspective. It touches on what I would call a “dumbing down” of diagnostic criteria, and the influence of politics and big pharma money.
“If probably not biological mental illness is not to be in the domain of psychiatry, let it go and make no claim that the DSM-5 [or psychiatry] is comprehensive. If psychiatry intends to continue being a specialty that treats mental illness proper, reflect the probably not biological mental illnesses in the DSM-5 revision accurately – beginning with the deconstruction of Major Depressive Disorder. Otherwise, psychiatry will continue to be a pretend science dwindling into irrelevance. I’ve got a hunch that 2012 will be a year when that choice will probably have to be made, one way or another…”
Read the full article at 1 Boring Old Man » probably, in 2012….