Too many people are being diagnosed with depression

A leading psychiatrist has stated that he believes that too many people are being prescribed medication for depression when they are actually just feeling down, that is, they are experiencing a natural feeling of sadness, for which medication is not really required.

Professor Gordon Parker, writing in the British Medical Journal, claims the threshold for clinical depression is too low and risks treating normal emotional states as illness. He calls depression a “catch-all” diagnosis driven by clever marketing.

However, another psychiatrist writing in the British Medical Journal contradicts his views, praising the increased diagnosis of depression.

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“Professor Ian Hickie writes that an increased diagnosis and treatment of depression has led to a reduction in suicides and removal of the old stigma surrounding mental illness.”

“Professor Parker, from the University of New South Wales, in Australia, said the “over-diagnosis” began around 25 years ago. The professor, who carried out a 15-year study of 242 teachers, found that more than three-quarters of them met the current criteria for depression. He writes in the BMJ that almost everyone had symptoms such as “feeling sad, blue or down in the dumps” at some point in their lives – but this was not the same as clinical depression which required treatment. He said prescribing medication may raise false hopes and might not be effective as there was nothing biologically wrong with the patient.”

“The number of prescriptions for antidepressants in England hit a record high of more than 31 million prescriptions earlier this year – a 6% rise in two years.”

It seems that more doctors and professors are now speaking out against the increase rates of drugs being prescribed to patients for conditions that they may not actually have. In many cases, feelings of depression can be overcome by much simpler means, such as increased social interaction, increased exercise and improved diet. Although there are many cases where there is a biological condition which requires treatment, there are many cases where people just need some good old fashioned support.

The NHS lists a good selection of support groups for depression, such as CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably, Depression Alliance, and First Steps to Freedom.

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