Why is depression the answer to everything on MN?

[ssd]

On just about any thread asking advice, someone always comes along with 'he, she, it may have depression, have you considered it?'.. Every bloody time.
It's like a one size fits all on here.

Or dementia.

It's clearly not the answer to everything - but it is a huge health issue affecting a surprisingly large % of the population, so not surprising that people ask.

I think the more important difference is between posters who genuinely suspect depression, and those who are just being whatabouttery contrarian arseholes. Sometimes the line between them isn't that clear, other times it's obvious.

It's not sometimes the answer is just move then, have you considered an au pair, or you could get a flexible job like doing people's laundry

Or being ‘on the spectrum’.

Do love an armchair diagnosis.

That's what bugs me, it's like become a childminder, take in ironing, get you ducks in a row, have they got depression..... It's just minimising something serious.

What I find odd is when someone posts having an entirely natural moan because they are having an obviously shit time - money worries, useless DH, demanding baby etc, and people will say "have you chatted to gp about depression"... I thought clinical depression was when you feel very down without a cause. Surely it's a normal human emotion to feel crap if circumstances are crap. I wish the govt etc would do more to sort out why so many people are in circumstances where life is so hard, sometimes it feels like treating the resulting "depression" is like putting a plaster on a chicken pox spot.

I agree. It's MN's answer to everything. Actually quite offensive to real depression and how serious that is.

I see autism and narcissistic personality disorder being given as solutions the most often.

Well.it isn't the answer to everything, sometimes it autism,and of course if somebody is a bit rude and unpleasant they are obviously narcissistic , and of course if someone is over a certain age they clearly have dementia .

Cross post

Having been diagnosed with clinical depression and then post natal depression and then some other depression....... I honestly think sometimes we try and treat normal reactions to shit situations with anti depressants. I actually think I've only been depressed clinically once, and that was when I had pnd that wasn't treated and then rolled on for a few years.
There were reasons I felt overwhelmed and sad at those other times. The anti depressants stopped me feeling crap because they stopped me feeling anything much at all. And when I came off them, well the problems were still there. I had cbt and that actually did something - it gave me coping mechanisms I never learned as a child/teen. I do wonder if I'd worked that all out sooner, if I'd have 'recovered' quicker. Maybe, maybe not.
It dawned on me when a friend had a serious car accident and was too scared to drive again - but desperately wanted to. She had anxiety medication and diagnosis, she had Councilling. Eventually she went to a hypnotherapist, and when she explained the situation, the hypnotherapist said "So you're nervous of doing something that nearly killed you? Well isn't it normal to feel a high level of anxiety in that situation?"
And yes, I think it is.
I don't judge others though, they know (or don't in some cases of anxiety/depression) what's going on in their head. And they should do what's right for them. I think there was so much pressure to be happy all the time that I believed I was depressed, when actually I was reacting to a set of totally crap circumstances.

Yes, I agree.

I have a close family member who has suffered most of her life with soul destroying depression. And I lost a friend to a depressive episode that ended in an overdose.

I see one more moody cunt husband with poor hygiene who doesn't want to work diagnosed with depression by MN, I'll blow several gaskets.

I agree with all these! Always people just throwing in depression, autism, narcissistic!!

I agree that depression and anxiety do get over diagnosed and is not always the cause to some of the behaviors you see on Mumsnet. But on the same note, there are a huge % of people who are suffering with various mental illnesses that do not have a diagnoses so its not that bad of a consideration.

I thought clinical depression was when you feel very down without a cause.

Statements like this are not only unhelpful but also ignorant. Clinical depression can be triggered by a specific event, and still be just as valid as the kind without a cause. Some people have underlying clinical depression that shows no symptoms until a certain trigger (such as a stressful event) causes it to show. They still require medical help and support.

Good post whatistheworld - exactly the sort of situation I was imagining & particularly re the CBT, think sometimes it's the coping mechanisms that are absent and would like to see govt focus on helping young people develop these - life isn't always perfect, that's normal, and we have to cope.

My personal example is an elderly relative who lost their partner of 60+ yrs, who they had known from childhood... GP suggested depression only a few weeks after the death. Relative & family pointed it was BEREAVEMENT - grieving is normal, even healthy in such circumstances.

Yes probably true it's suggested when it's a normal reaction to things. I was reading information in NHS leaflets about cancer once and it went into detail about what you may feel during your diagnosis/treatment and basically all the natural things you may feel was the same as actual depression so I thought how would you actually know if it was a natural reaction to having cancer or depression?!

And if a child plays up it must be tested for autism immediately.

Because depression is insidious

I actually think its incredibly insensitive and dismissive to suggest that clinical depression cant be triggered by certain life events. Its happened to someone very close to me. Since they age of 18 they have been on and off anti-depressants and CBT. This is because their depression gets triggered by stress- so this could be a "normal" big life event for example. But I suppose you all suggest he isn't clinically depressed and the years of hard work he has put in the help himself cope better with stress is all just a "normal reaction"?

It’s not always depression, quite often it’s something called SLS. ( shit life syndrome ) . Agree with other posters who say it’s normal to be down when everything around you is crap.

I think WhatIsTheWorld is right. Life is hard. And sometimes quite shit.
At my workplace their is a lot of long term sickness with stress. Say 4/12 permenant staff off with stress. BUT the job is a stressful job and current circumstances make it more stressful. Yet our boss is always moaning about it but he never tries to eleviate the stress. That’s the same relationship between the government and depression.

So you are all saying the multiple GPs and therapists my family member has seen and confirmed that he indeed has clinical depression that is triggered by stressful events are wrong?

a lot of people seem to have anxiety too, i wonder why that is.
self diagnosed allergies esp when the person goes onto eat the 'wrong' food with no obvious ill effects 'oh, it comes and goes' attitude.
within three weeks of being diagnosed with bipolar a couple of friends decided they had it too, both dropped for being regular drama queens.

I don’t disagree, @OP Yes, depression can be hard to see when you’re in the throes of it and it can sometimes take an outsider to see it subjectively, but sometimes life is just shit and struggling to cope (or not coping) with grief, bereavement, redundancy, divorce, uncertainty or whatever else doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.