Task force recommends that doctors should screen all adults for depression

[ghostrider]

I think an effective way to reduce/avoid depression would be to not read/listen/view anything from CNN
:-)

[misterlarry]

And as soon as someone says "I wake up grumpy every morning," they take your guns away because you're obviously nuts.

[WildBill]

And as soon as someone says "I wake up grumpy every morning," they take your guns away because you're obviously nuts.

Especially if you're also chemically dependent on coffee!

[n5wmk]

"A common scenario for screening is that a patient completes a test on paper or electronically while waiting to see the doctor. If the test reveals a patient is at risk of depression, a doctor or nurse does a more thorough evaluation and talks with the patient about whether to start antidepressants or therapy."

Another Orwellian tactic? Becoming more 1984 in the 21st century....

[VMI77]

"A common scenario for screening is that a patient completes a test on paper or electronically while waiting to see the doctor. If the test reveals a patient is at risk of depression, a doctor or nurse does a more thorough evaluation and talks with the patient about whether to start antidepressants or therapy."

Another Orwellian tactic? Becoming more 1984 in the 21st century....

We don't have to look to fiction...using psychiatry against dissents was a standard feature of the old Soviet Union. The aspirational differences between the old Stalinist's of the USSR and the leftists in the US are so inconsequential as to be indistinguishable.

[misterlarry]

Me: "Doc said I might need treatment for depression and compulsive violent tendency disorder."

Wife: "What kind of treatment?" How do you feel?"

Me: "You know, I'm a little sad that I didn't ask him that before I pushed him out the window of his 6th floor office."

Wife: "Sounds like it's time for you to load up your boat with all your guns and dump it in the middle of Lake Conroe again."

[TVegas]

While I was at A&M, the health clinic gave these screenings each time a patient went to the clinic to see a doctor. The nurse would give you a sheet of paper with three "How often have you felt or thought about X?" questions. Nothing I ever reported led to a doctor saying anything, but they did lead me to at least consider my personal mental state over the years that I was there

I don't think the screenings should be in any way mandatory, but if they can help people to stop and think about their own mental health then I think they're worthwhile.

You've obviously never been clinically depressed. Having had a intimate relationship with someone who was truly depressed and treated for depression I say the screenings are invasive, and not only not worthwhile, but potentially destructive. I absolutely guarantee you that someone who is really depressed doesn't need to fill out a form to know it. In fact, the incentive is the opposite....to lie about their feelings because of who is going to see this information and how it might be used against them.

VMI77, considering that my fiancé and mother are both clinically depressed, and that I once suffered with a period of depression, I believe that I know what I'm talking about. I know what at least my family would consider invasive and damaging. They consider having a doctor or nurse badgering them with uninvited questions invasive, not an optional paper survey with three generic questions. If they wouldn't want to discuss mental health with the staff, then they would decline to take the survey.

Additionally, you seem to have overlooked my point. There is a wide range of depression. There's no switch that sends someone from not depressed to "really depressed." Those who are "really depressed" aren't who these types of optional screenings are targeting. Those who don't even realize that they have depression - which is every single person who has depression, at some point in their life - are who I believe the screenings benefit.

Those who suffer with severe depression may not like to be reminded of it, but they are already reminded every morning when they wake up. An optional survey with generic questions isn't going to be any more likely to send them into a deeper darkness than seeing an advertisement for antidepressants or overhearing someone crack a joke about mental health.

Even if someone lies, if they start to consider the possibility that they may have depression before it gets to a severe level, then they stand a much better chance of seeking help before it gets to that point.

Finally, it doesn't matter how information is conveyed to medical staff, be that through a generic paper survey or through verbal communication. No matter what, it ends up in the patient's medical history files. If someone doesn't want anyone to know about their mental health, a paper survey won't make a difference. They wouldn't seek medical help at all if that was the issue.

Now, I apologize if my response seems a bit heated, but this is a sore subject for me. If you'd like to continue a discussion on this topic, feel free to PM me.

[Nortex]

Not only depression, but mental illness runs in my family. Just a few years ago I had a cousin vote for Obama.

[gljjt]

My doc screens me every time. He greets me with "Good morning, how's it going?". I say "fine" and we are done!!

[WildBill]

My doc screens me every time. He greets me with "Good morning, how's it going?". I say "fine" and we are done!!

I would bet that a lot of doctors don't even ask that question.