Comments on: Depression Diagnosis: Let’s Call a Spade a Spade

By: Curiosity

Curiosity — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:40:06 +0000

I know that the first time I cried out of frustration in a doctor’s office, they said. “Oh. You’re depressed.” and then sent me away with no further information, and no additional diagnostic questions. Grrr.

By: james

james — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:09:49 +0000

Obviously a lot of doctors are competent in diagnosing depression, and the study bears that out. My wife’s doctor says that one in four of his appointments relates to depression. If this is representative then they certainly don’t lack for practical experience.

But general practitioners are generalists and not specialists. If they haven’t developed skills in mental health then they should refer to someone who has. Many do this of course, but for a myriad of reasons it seems that many others don’t.

By: Kat MacKinnon

Kat MacKinnon — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:38:20 +0000

Long gone the days when a person used to have the same doctor almost all his/her life! How easy it is to explain to a new face all you symptoms in under, say, 10 minutes?

Can this doctor ‘justify’ a couple of follow-up appointments before prescribing the medication?

I don’t think so. Unfortunately, NHS is thinking short-term most of the time.

Kat (www.LiftMyDepression.com)

By: james

james — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:10:05 +0000

I think that part of the problem is that doctors are constrained by a lack of time. In the study I mentioned there was much better success with diagnosis where longer follow-up appointments were made, which of course makes sense.

The friend that I wrote about was prescribed anti-depressants for depression subsequent to pain, not as a treatment for the pain itself.

By: Diana Lee

Diana Lee — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:13:38 +0000

It’s not at all uncommon to use antidepressants off label as a treatment for pain. I don’t think there is any reason to think the doctor was asserting the pain was in the person’s head or diagnosing depression.

However, I don’t think GPs should be diagnosing depression and leave it at that. They should ideally refer patients to therapy and psychiatrists for evaluation and further treatment. Treatment takes a full rounded approach, even assuming a diagnosis of depression is correct.