DEPRESSION OR A MEDICAL PROBLEM?

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Title: DEPRESSION OR A MEDICAL CONDITION?
Author: Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW
E-mail: mailto:editor@overcoming-depression.com
Copyright: by Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW
Web Address: http://www.Overcoming-Depression.com
Word Count: 528
Category: DEPRESSION

DEPRESSION OR A MEDICAL CONDITION?

Are you suffering from depression or a medical condition?
Depression can be a symptom of an undiagnosed medical
condition.

Decision trees are used in psychotherapy much like they are
in other professions. At the top of the decision tree are
always two items to rule out FIRST, before making a mental
health diagnosis.

1. A general medical condition or

2. A chemical dependency

As a rule-of-thumb if it has been longer than 2 years since
you have had a thorough medical examination it's time to
call and schedule that appointment. Please, don't put it
off until tomorrow, do it today (Are you hearing that
gentlemen?) ;-)

When I speak of "thorough medical examination" I mean the
actual physical exam given by your family doctor and a full
blood workup as well.

There are many diseases and medical issues that can cause
depressive symptoms. Common ones include: AIDS, anemia,
cancer, congestive heart failure, diabetes, infectious
hepatitis, malnutrition, MS, rheumatoid arthritis and
thyroid conditions.

The order of this decision tree is very important. You
don't want to treat what you think is a depression problem,
if there's a medical condition going unnoticed, untreated
and becoming worse.

Additionally, you will waste valuable time and money
treating a secondary condition that may well disappear if
you are treated for the primary medical condition at the
beginning.

I'm a psychotherapist, and NO, I'm not trying to chase off
business! I am, however, interested in you getting better.

I speculate that the growing trend in "atypical
depression," or untreatable depression, lies partly in
untreated health problems. And, in particular,
malnutrition. Did you know that one study showed that 80% of
Americans suffer from malnutrition? Hard to believe? The
new field of Metabolic Typing has shed tremendous light on
this subject, and you may have heard it referred to as
"Syndrome X."

There are times when it's not this simple. You may be
convinced you have a medical problem, but all the tests
come back negative. In that case, your best bet is to treat
the depression and become your own information sleuth
and/or seek a second opinion. Modern medicine continues to
make tremendous leaps forward, but it is not perfect.

Also be aware that you may simply have depression and are
struggling with acceptance. Many people wrestle with the
fact that there is no concrete test, like a blood test,
that you can get to verify if depression is, with certainty,
the culprit. That's very understandable, but don't allow
it to get in the way of receiving proper help. You and
those you love do not need to suffer needlessly.

Another complex situation involves when you may need to be
treated for both a medical condition and a depression
condition. Even then, a doctor should first treat your
medical condition and monitor the depression to see if it
subsides with the treatment you're receiving. The doctor
can always recommend an antidepressant and psychotherapy as
needed. The only exception to this rule is if you have
severe depression and are in danger of suicide. Then you
may require immediate hospitalization for the purpose of
emotion stabilization.

All my best in your recovery efforts!