Link – Depression not a single disease: experts

They may be on to something –

“A group of international psychologists have challenged the classification of ‘major depression’ and argue it would be better managed if it was broken down into 12 separate disorders.

“We argue that depression is not a single disease, it is a heterogeneous syndrome, with patients differing remarkably in symptom profile, pathophysiology and treatment responsiveness,” says Severi Luoto, a PhD candidate in evolutionary psychology at the University of Auckland”

Now, the reason I say that is not that I necessarily agree with their 12 “types” of depression, but anyone who spends much time looking into mental health already knows that depression looks different in different people it responds to treatment differently, and is probably caused by different things. I’ve seen all the articles about depression being caused by inflammation, chemical reasons, lack of exercise, grief or trauma, stress, gut microbes, and on and on.

How about all of the above? And for each of those causes, the treatment is different. Again, some may or may not be accurate, but we probably should be looking at depression, and heck anxiety too while we’re at it, as a series of disorders, not one specific thing.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/11/06/depression-not-single-disease-experts