Testing for Depression

 

As a child of the eighties, I remember my parents' excitement over the idea of testing for depression in adults. The thought of taking a pill every day to "make me feel good," was a far more attractive option than the prescription drugs my parents were taking. I grew up with parents who could never imagine themselves as adults. In my mind, their adult emotions had to be somehow "determined" by some mental process that could never be completely understood by the average person. So they put aside their qualms about the use of psychiatric medications, and enjoyed the benefits of their choice.

Today, I am an adult who have had "the experience" of having "depressed feelings," but not necessarily experienced the debilitating episodes of depression that my parents' generation did. Today, I have learned how to "cope." Through a course of prescribed medication and therapy, I have discovered how to treat depression, and I no longer take psychiatric medications or think about medications.

Some of the symptoms of depression today are insomnia, overeating, lack of energy, suicidal thoughts, fatigue, muscle aches, irritability, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal attempts. If you have any of these symptoms, it is possible that you might have depression. One of the first symptoms of depression, clinical depression, is persistent sadness or helplessness, persistent thoughts of suicide or hurting yourself, feelings of guilt (such as an inability to control oneself), sleep disturbances, and abnormal thinking or behavior. If you have experienced any of these symptoms, and you have never been treated with psychiatric medications, then it is possible that you suffer from "non-organic depression."

Because non-organic depression overlaps so closely with the symptoms of other forms of depression, many medical doctors are now testing patients for depression with the use of various kinds of questionnaires, such as the questionnaire used to determine the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders IV-TR; the criterion for diagnosing major depression is a history of six or more episodes of depressive mood disorders. Another criteria required for diagnosing this condition is the absence of adequate somatic, emotional, or behavioral manifestations. Also, because it is not always easy to know which medications are appropriate for people with this type of depression, sometimes a combination of different kinds of antidepressants may be prescribed. However, the use of antidepressants as a form of treatment for this condition has been extremely limited and is considered to be very ineffective in the treatment of this type of depression.

The most common alternative to prescribing medications for treating this condition is to use "generic" medication in the place of psychostimulants like Prozac or Paxil. Generic medication, however, does not carry the same risks of addiction as prescription drugs. There is a growing trend, however, for prescribing medications for depression in light of the emerging problem of addiction to these drugs. Many researchers now believe that genetic predisposition, rather than environmental factors, are the main cause of addictive behavior. Thus, testing for depression with the use of DNA testing has become increasingly popular.

In addition to testing for depression with the use of DNA, other tests are being developed which can be used in conjunction with genetic testing. For example, some companies are now offering personalized genetic testing for patients with specific genetic disorders, like sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis. In order to determine whether particular medications will work to treat a particular genetic disorder, a patient's genetic data will be compared to those of other individuals who have the disorder. This is a relatively new procedure, and researchers are still uncertain about its effectiveness in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Although psychoanalysts have long regarded the human psyche as a structure consisting of multiple levels of complexes, including an outer, interrelated structure, the truth is that Freud could not fully grasp these layers of meaning. As such, the results of his analyses relied largely on the interpretation of dreams and dictation of messages from the inner planes. As a result, many of his theories about the relationships between dreams and reality proved highly controversial among his peers, and even among his own students.

Today, however, a new understanding of the brain has come to light through the work of neurologists and psychiatrists. These professionals now understand that the relationship between dreams and reality is nothing more than a complex web of reflexes and neurological pathways that activate with varying frequencies depending on the particular depressive symptoms being experienced. Because these reflexes can become activated by various environmental factors, particularly anxiety and depression, doctors are able to use neuropsychological testing for depression with the use of prescription medications. By using these medications in conjunction with the emerging neuroanatomy of the brain, doctors are able to diminish the effects of depression on a patient's overall health and well-being. As a result, patients who would have otherwise had to suffer drastic symptoms of depression are able to live healthy, productive lives.