to think the over-diagnosis of depression is hardly news?

[Mitchy1nge]

in torygraph today it's claimed depression is more likely to be over than under diagnosed - something this blogger describes as social suffering apparently something like one in six people in Blackpool are on anti-depressants

is this only in the news this week because everyone is supposed to feel a bit crap in January? The study came out a few weeks ago.

hi profundo - it was called Mind Body MOT or something like that and it was Tamara Russell, worth a look? good luck

Claudius :( have you tried anywhere else for support, like Mind?

Sorry, Snow, I didn't mean to be flippant. It's the phrase friends and I use who either have previously been or currently are on antidepressants themselves. I forget that the term isn't common currency.

I call them happy pills and i take them myself. Sadly, they don't make you happy - but they do stop the anxiety and despair (most of the time).

LaGuardia "Telling you GP you are depressed gets you a few weeks months off work, I understand. This could be why it is so popular."

Why is it OK to come out with prejudiced statements about those with mental illnesses. I was signed off work with depression, i left two weeks later, you know, BECAUSE I WAS ILL!!

Honestly, the ignorance and prejudice surrounding mental illness is, well, its depressing isn't it.

If there is a middle ground between therapy and medication, I am not sure what it is?

CBT is not about saying something is your fault,it's about trying to give people their own power back to view things from perhaps a more helpful standpoint. This does not mean that depression is the person's fault.

And if therapy is seen to be "blaming" then, what makes mindfulness any different? Whilst mindfulness has some success, it is basically about teaching people not to think outside of their immediate existence. Personally, I think the ability to do this is what differentiates us from animals, but that's just my opinion.

And as an ex-Blackpool inhabitant, it's a dumping ground for socially disenfranchised individuals. I too am shocked that the percentage of people on antidepressants is not higher.

"it's about trying to give people their own power back to view things from perhaps a more helpful standpoint."

it's still saying the problem is the way they view things though (I've actually benefited from CBT but it wasn't the sort of thing that seems to be doled out now, it was an hour a week face to face for a few months, although we were at loggerheads often and we didn't part on good terms, I still draw upon some of it today) and as such must feel so invalidating to some people, as it says in that blog, if you make the way any given individual views things the problem you can avoid confronting the ghastly truth about all those wider factors contributing to everyone's unease

Mitchy, my CBT experience ended with me doing a runner from an appointment and having the police come and find me, so we also parted on bad terms!

haha yes I think I ended up in hospital too

never mind, onwards and upwards

I hate the whole therapy thing too actually, it's only a success if they think it is - the fact that I to this day use my relapse prevention stuff that we worked on all those years ago says it was worthwhile, somehow have been marked as not suitable for psychotherapeutic style treatments now

just as well I LIKE taking drugs isn't it

When I've done CBT with people it's been more about "yes it's crap" what can we do about it, because constantly thinking "it's crap" over and over clearly isn't working for that person.

May be I should just have said "we'll as none of it is your fault, I don't want you to try to view any positive aspects of this situation or take control of the bits you can. Instead sit there, think how crap it is and how the world is awful. Yes it is all awful. You are doomed. There there, hope that helps".

Very therapeutic

Maybe CBT shouldn't be touted about as the answer to every depressed person's prayers? People are critical of antidepressants being handed out, but round our way it is antidepressants whilst you await your weekly sessions of being told that actually your thinking is all wrong, if only you could look on the bright side everything will be hunky dory. I found CBT combative and actually started going to appointments with lists to prove that I was right to think and feel like I did.

do you have borderline hairy? you keep doing that black and white/splitting thing

there must be more we can do for people in terrible situations than help them change their thinking about it

I do wonder if the increase in prescribed drugs has coincided in any way with a decrease in use of non prescribed drugs. There is less alcohol consumed than there used to be & people are much more aware that they shouldn't drink too much, smoking is considered socially unacceptable, I don't know about the general availability of "recreational" drugs certainly people used a lot of stuff when I was younger I don't know if that is the case.

Is some of it simply that people are turning to the doctor instead of trying to self-medicate? Now that there is more awareness of mental illness & drives to say help is available, and people know that there are drugs which can & do help.

Just a thought

that sounded a bit more hostile than was meant hairy you just seem to be a bit either/or about things

but obviously when you are face to face with it and have limited tools at your disposal you need to have faith in what you've got to offer people?

But no one has said that CBT works for everything/everybody! There are other types of therapy to try, but again, these look within a person for the answers.

Or there is medication....which some people don't like.

I wonder what else people think there is? i really do empathise as I have had long-standing clinical depression myself, hence why I trained in that area of work. Whilst depression is a real illness, it is in OUR brain and bodies, therefore we do have to look to ourselves to some degree and take responsibility for our illness. My depression is not my fault, but how I handle it is. If it was completely caused by external factors, then everyone would get depressed in exactly the same circumstances, but they don't. Therefore, it is something in us, be it chemistry or whatever.

Until we get the magic wand waving cure, then therapies or drugs is basically what there is. Either utilise them or don't, but how on earth do you think someone can solve all your problems for you?

Claudius - maybe CBT was combative because it's meant to challenge your perceptions? Or you could always stay stuck in negativity? In your ideal world, what would the therapist have done???

I didn't know that nicetabard, that use of other substances was on the wane

that's interesting

depression is not the same for everyone, some feel they can do nothing and stay in bed others walk round going through the motions feeling nothing, some are plotting how to end their lives but not self harming so they are not considered to be in immediate danger. it is much cheaper to keep people on drugs, sadly people get used to taking these drugs (often needed, sometimes maybe not) the does often gets puts up when a patient may once again hit a difficult time, they ahve been used to feeling calm, the feel anxious once again and the does is higher

the problem is lack of money, gp's should not be prescribing long term use of ad's but people are on them for years without ever seeing a mental health care professional, the dosage is so often above what is recommended it is frightening how little control their is regarding ad's

Mitchy - no I don't. Are you qualified to be diagnosing now? Yes it did sound hostile. I am just intrigued as to what magic wand you would like people to wave to make you better?

And whilst we are doing diagnosing, has the diagnosis of PD ever been bandied about near you?

The point is that in this area it is meds or CBT or a mix. I prefer the meds.

Yeah, I'll just stay stuck in negativity. Severe clinical depression and PTSD, why don't I just pull myself together?

Claudius - you haven't answered the question. What did you want them to do?

Am pretty shocked at LaGuardia's comment that you just tell your GP you are depressed and get months off work. Pretty offensive to people suffering severe depression and unable to work.

Also...a general point..reactive depression can nake you feel pretty shocking (I speak from exoerience) and I dont see what is wrong with treating it.

We dont say "people just expect to feel pain free' and deny people pain killers,so why expect people to suffer mental pain.

I would have liked to have seen a Psychiatrist at some point, other than the one I had to see through Occupational Health where I had to only be half-honest to avoid losing my job.

i do not think anyone is saying people should suffer mental pain

but what is the right treatment, ad's should not be a long term answer without any other treatment

Well it is your right to demand that your GP refers you. Seeing a psychiatrist is a positive because at least then you'll get proper professional assessment and care. You need to be honest with the GP about how bad it is though. You can't be treated properly if you aren't forthcoming with exactly how bad you feel. You do not have to go through life feeling the way you do. I'm surprised you have been given the PTSD diagnosis by anyone other than a psychiatrist following a referral from your own GP. please see your GP again and demand referring.

That was to Claudius by the way.