Depression - myth, reality, or a little of both?

If you have the money, sure! They are prohibitively expensive, and used primarily for research. Maybe if one went to an academic neurologist, they'd recommend an fMRI, but no insurance will pay for it. So far mental illness diagnoses are made by psychologists and psychiatrists using the DSM V guidelines. But with current advancements, it won't be long before we start using actual tests and scans. We already have them in research settings.

There have been numerous studies to destroy the 'it's all in your head' argument. Just because some hormonal teenagers and drama queens have appropriated the word to describe everyday lows, doesn't take away from the fact that depression, the mental disorder, is a serious condition that needs treatment. For anyone who subscribes to the idea of 'myth', 'fancy label' and Mr Haiku, an fMRI of a brain with chronic long term depression is all you need to settle the debate over the legitimacy of the disorder. Brains of depressives become structurally different from 'diagnostically normal' people. Studies have shown that these changes are reversible if the illness is well controlled.

I wrote a snippet about it a while ago, my one and only, which makes my stance on the issue very clear. Posted the link here but took it out. I was hoping to see a debate evolve organically. But E&PG is not Married Life. Maybe I should make an alt-ID and post some inflammatory opinions to get people riled up!

 

That is a serious problem but the patients are as much to blame as the doctors. When a doctor says "exercise", the patient seeks a second opinion. Most mild cases of depression can be treated with CBT and exercise. There are severe situations that require medication but hardly as often as prescribed. People want quick fixes, and doctors can't be bothered with trying alternative therapies. The best thing to do is to do your own research and seek all possible treatment options before resorting to medication. Pharmaceuticals don't treat the problem, they only mask the symptoms.

Prescription abuse is another story. People taking mood enhancing drugs when they have no need for them whatsoever!

I don't know Deepika Padukone's story, but I've read plenty of ignorant drivel about mental illness to understand how badly we need to increase awareness of these disorders. In fact it was one such infuriating snippet I read on IL, that PO'd me enough to force me to write a counter-snippet!