Is Depression Over-diagnosed?

Can you tell the difference between clinical depression and “the blues”? According to a study of more than 8,000 adults that has just been published in The Archives of General Psychiatry, about 25 percent of those who seem depressed are just dealing with real-life troubles, such as divorce, losing their job, or blowing their nest egg at the track. Yet they are misdiagnosed as having clinical depression – and, no doubt, treated with medications.

I’ve been both “appropriately” sad in my life and have also had what is called “clinical depression,” and I can tell the difference. I think moving away from medicalizing normal human emotions is a great trend!


Posted by Susan Rogers

Source: “Many Diagnoses of Depression May Be Misguided,” New York Times, 4/3/07
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/health/psychology/03depr.html?ref=health