Now-a-days it’s all too easy for doctors to diagnose a patient with depression. Can’t sleep? Probably depression, Feel a bit tired? Must be depression, Unmotivated? Most defiantly: depression. ‘Take two of these every day till you can’t feel feelings.’
Over two million people in the UK are taking prescribed anti-depressants, yet according to a new book, many of these people aren’t mentally ill at all but just misdiagnosed.
In the Book ‘Beating Stress, Anxiety And Depression’, Professor Jane Plant, a leading scientist from University College Hospital in London, and Janet Stephenson, a psychologist at a London hospital, claim the medical profession’s approach to mental illness and depression in particular is wrong - with medics often mistaking symptoms of a physical condition for depression.
“A study by an American psychiatrist found that more than 10 per cent of patients diagnosed with mental illness are actually suffering from an underlying physical condition, such as a heart murmur or a mineral deficiency such as calcium or magnesium that causes depression-like symptoms,” says Professor Plant.
Another study found that more than 40 per cent of patients diagnosed as depressed at one medical practice were found to have been taking medication that causes depression as a side effect.
“Asthma treatments, for example, can cause depression, but some doctors don’t know this,” she says.
The authors believe that doctors and psychiatrists are frequently prescribing the wrong kinds of drug, which can leave people feeling even worse than they did without treatment.
“In a recent report from Bristol University, it was estimated that 40 per cent of mental health cases in Britain receive the wrong kind of treatment for their condition,” says Professor Plant.
The authors also believe there is too much of a ‘one size fits all’ approach to treating mental health within the NHS.
“There are seven different types of anxiety and depression, such as clinical depression, postnatal depression, panic attacks and generalised anxiety disorder, and each needs to be treated differently,” says Professor Plant.
“For example, those with anxiety tend to react well to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as this helps train them to react and think differently, so they do not feel anxious when they encounter various situations.
“On the other hand, CBT would not be so helpful for someone with post-natal depression, for example, as it is more of a hormonal issue and is best treated by providing the mother with support and counselling. Drugs should be avoided because she might be breastfeeding.
“However, manic depression, which is triggered by a chemical imbalance in the brain, can be helped with the right kind of medication, often the mood stabiliser lithium, to remedy that imbalance.
“The problem is that confronted with a mental health problem, doctors are often quick to prescribe a mind-altering pill rather than to think of some other form of treatment such as therapy.
“This is the way they have been trained, yet often that is not the solution.”
The authors also suggest that relatives of someone who is suspected of being mentally ill should press for tests to prevent them from being given the wrong medication or treatment.
“If a doctor does prescribe a drug, they should ascertain if the patient has low levels of neurotransmitters - brain chemicals such as serotonin that help influence mood - and which one is low, as this can better inform them which drug to use,” says Professor Plant.
