Depression criteria

[Guest guest]

Morten from Denmark wrote as reproduced.

I am writing from India. I differ.

I explain. Morten has talked of the ICD.

Well, I have been through that allopathic

psychiatry system having worked for 30

years as Assoc. Prof. and Lecturer and

Clinical Psychologist in psychiatry deptts

of different countries. My additional

qualification as regards depression is that

I have treated successfully three

cases of psychotic depression without

psychiatric drugs. One of them doesn't

accept my advice but I trick him into the

treatment whereby he feels he is doing the

treatment himself. I have however not

achieved full success in this third case.

In two other cases I have achieved full

success. One of them was an allopathic

physician. The other two are my own family

members. To cut the story short, I have now

grown dis-illusioned by the psychiatric

classification systems. Please please throw

them in the garbage. The best system of

classification that WORKS is as follows:

Neurotic Vs Psychotic depression.

Psychological interventions for the first,

other interventions for the second. Divide

the second (psychotic depression) into three

namely, those depressions that involve

tryptophan-serotonin deficiency Vs those

that involve phenylalanine-tyrosine-dopamin

deficiency Vs the depression phase of bipolar.

Treatments (mainly nutritional and others

e.g., celiac treatment, allergies, detox

issues)for all these are different from

each other against the psychiatric drug

treatments that follow the same " flow chart "

of drugs for all depressions even if for

name sake ISD or DSM is used. Please

note that ISD and DSM are decorations or

used only for research, but are not used in

day-to-day clinical practice in the ward.

Regards.

Ratan.

---------

There is a challenge to us all in that - to diagnose define severe,

moderate and mild

depression. Trials of various forms of medication and psychotherapy

generally suffer from

that limitation. The ICD-10 depression criteria, for instance, do not

include psychomotor

depression, and the manual suggests as a clue that symptom counts can

be used (for

instance, 2 of 3 core criteria and 4 of 6 additional criteria for a

moderate depression). But I

bet most of the patients that Jim talk about who won't eat easily

satisfy all criteria, and

that a bunch of depressed patients who are able to both eat and get out

of bed (and could

participate in a caveman-program) satisfy all 10 criteria.

Maybe psychomotor agitation or retardation is the key - the research I

have come across

has not been very conclusive.

Regards,

Morten

-------------------

Ratan Singh

M.A. (Psychol), Postgraduate Diploma in Medical & Social Psychology, Ph.D.

Certified Behavior Therapist (from late Prof. J. Wolpe's Unit)

Hypnotist, Biofeedback and Meditation Therapist.

Family and Marital and Sex Therapist.

Consultant in Jaipur Hospital, India.

psych_58,

www.jaipurmart.com/trade/meditationandhealth,

meditationandcancer-