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Originally Posted by kevmartin  Again I think I see a difference here between depression and DEPRESSION. Many people use the word depression/depressed for basically those times when they just aren't feeling too wonderful - a bit down in the dumps, etc. That's not depression - that's a mood.
Depression is a medical condition and completely different from the above. Prescribing anti-depressants for depression is more often than not appropriate. Prescribing anti-depressants for feeling down in the dumps is idiotic, bordering (at least) on malpractice, but unfortunately all too common. Basically it is a case of treating a condition that isn't there.
Feeling down/lost/bored/frustrated/etc does not equal depression (although those things would all be typical symptoms of depression). But, a cough is a symptom of Tuberculosis, but you wouldn't treat someone for TB just because they coughed, would you? |
Well I was assuming he actually had depression. This is pretty much rule 1 you learn in psychology -- there's a difference between being depressed and having clinical depression. In cases of clinical depression, meds DO work, but they often carry many unwanted side-effects and almost all of them have very bad withdrawal effects. So yeah they make you feel good short-term but anti-depressants for extended periods of time are only good in very severe cases. That's kind of like drinking for anxiety -- drinking does get rid of anxiety but over time drinking actually increases your baseline anxiety level.