Should Depression be renamed?

[Leigh1987]

Hi all,

I just wanted to share a few thoughts I have about depression being a misnomer.

One frustration of depression is the internal experience differing from what it looks like on the outside.
Friends have said to me for instance that I am refusing to enjoy life or have fun. However from my perspective I am just incapable of enjoyment while I am going through a depressive period. I think this stems from the incorrect view that depression is the same as being sad or low. After all when they felt low they engaged in positive activities and felt better. Thus they don't understand the experience of the condition as opposed to simply being depressed.

As our understanding moves away from viewing depression as a feebleness of the mind and towards seeing it as a condition that impacts on both mind and body I really do think we should consider reterming it altogether. This would help move away from misconceptions and towards a more nuanced appreciation of the illness. It would help alleviate at least one frustration experienced by sufferers.

Thoughts? Feelings?

[Gonetroppo]

Hi Leigh1987,

I get where you are coming from. There is a distinction between feeling low or feeling a little down compared to having a major depressive episode. But it can be hard to recognise the difference if you haven't been through a major depressive episode. Unfortunately, this does translate to a "Why don't you just get off your bed and just do something." This advice, while mostly offered by well-meaning family and friends, is hardly helpful. If it were that easy, we'd all be doing it already. The other thing I used to get often is accusations that I was faking it, or attention seeking in some way. It's probably not that surprising given that I have bipolar disorder and a depressive episode can easily slingshot into a manic one (and vice versa). Nonetheless, such accusations serve no real purpose other than to act as a disincentive to asking for help if needed.

I'm not sure if depression needs a name change but there certainly is a need for better education to inform those who don't suffer depression as to the difference between sadness/feeling low and a major depression episode as well as the soul destroying consequences of the latter.

[Gambit87]

I think depression is a pretty accurate description of what it is.

Thus they don't understand the experience of the condition as opposed to simply being depressed

^ this is the problem.

IMO Mental health has only really been getting into the spot light in the last 10 years or so. Alot of people simply dont understand what its like to live with depression or anxiety or be bipolar or have a mental health condition because there is very little education and awareness of mental health. Like you have mentioned - people still believe doing positive activities will fix you - it doesnt. although to be fair, education and awareness is getting better.

changing the name wont alleviate the frustration, education and awareness will.

[therising]

HI Leigh1987

I love people who wonder, like yourself. Wondering whether 'depression' is an accurate description in conveying what's really going on for various people is definitely something worth wondering about.

Perhaps there could be gradings, such as Level 1 depression through to Level 4, for example. Since having left life altering depression behind me some years ago, there have been occasions since where I'm challenged under certain circumstances to not sink back in. I've learned to strategically manage staying out.

You could say 'Level 1' is like a funk, where life is generally but not always dissatisfying and unexciting. This funk holds the potential to take us to 'Level 2', as dopamine and serotonin levels (for example) can begin to gradually alter. 'Level 2' is where the chemistry and energy begin to feel significantly different. Nothing gives us satisfaction and it's as though we just can't regain 'our happy self', no matter how hard we try, often leading to that question 'What's wrong with me?' 'Level 3', where the shift in chemistry and energy become deeply depressing, can have us enter the realm of hopelessness, where there is a desperate need for help. 'Level 4', the absolute depths, can be mentally and physically debilitating. There can be a sense that nothing will help and there is only one way to escape. 'Level 4' is the place of absolute 100% despair. There is nothing like it.

I believe there would be significant benefits to having a grading system. With such a system, we would be able to identify someone in a 'Level 1' state before they graduated down into lower levels. So, you could have a teenager who says to their parents 'I feel so down and just can't seem to enjoy the things I used to. I have little energy and I don't know what to do with my life anymore'. Instead of brushing it off as 'Going through that stage of life', it should be a level 1 or 2 red flag. When young people are labelled as 'Going through that stage of life' this is incredibly dismissive. May as well say 'Oh, we all went through mental sufferance on our own at that point, now it's your turn to do it on your own, without guidance and support'. Being a mum to 2 teenagers and having open discussions about mental wellbeing in our household (based on my own experience), I regard such a phrase as a form of emotional desertion.

You have a good point. In my opinion, 'Depression' is an umbrella term which does little in conveying the various levels of challenge.

🙂

[Leigh1987]

Hello thanks for your reply and thanks to everyone else for their replies also :)

Levels of depression makes sense to me and indeed we already have that built into the diagnosis in terms of mild, moderate and severe depression.

I think that "teenage angst" is considered to be a standard part of growing pains but like you said that can be dangerous as it discounts the emotional experience of the adolescent and can set them up for a lifetime of mental illness problems. They should be provided the proper tools to be mentally healthy.

That in a sense is the issue with the term mild depression as I think this could fit pretty much anyone at any given time. Some amount of stress and negativity is normal. This could turn into moderate depression or more often than not will pass on it's own or maintain at the same level.

Another potential pitfall I see with a level system is the fact is not all depressive episodes progress slowly if something traumatic occurs it can happen almost overnight.

I think the most accurate term for depression came from my former hr manager who called it simply "stress" and that blew my mind because it actually fits the condition better than the name depression. All the days and nights I spent ruminating and obsessing just suddenly made more sense as stress rather than being depressed. All that energy poured into attempts to problem solve weren't a result of depression but stress.

Anyway those are just my musings for the night 🙂

[Tangney]

Thanks for raising this, Leigh1987. I agree with much of what everyone is saying. I tend to agree that a different name for the condition would help. One of my concerns is that the seriousness of the condition gets lost when certain celebrities describe their depression by simplistically stating such things as ..."I went to my GP and got the help I needed"....Problem solved. It's often struck me that with many of these public admissions, it seems as though the depression, if it was actually diagnosed as depression, must have been mild if it could be so easily and simply resolved in one go. I actually feel as though many of these media stories that simplify the process of getting help have done more harm than good because they are misleading. It's actually really difficult to find the right medication, which can require months/years of trial and error, or an appropriate specialist (again trial and error), especially when at "Level 4" for example. This sort of publicity can result in minimising the lived experience of sufferers with major depression. I think changing the name from "depression" to something else is a great idea. I've often wondered if it would be more appropriate to return to the term "melancholia" or "melancholic depression", which I think expresses the seriousness of the condition in a more profound way rather than describing it as "depression", which is too broad as it encapsulates so many different classes of the disorder. I also like the idea of "Levels" or "Grades" of illness, which seems to be the way that cancer diagnoses are dealt with eg. stages 1, 2, 3, and 4. The community has a general understanding that Stage 4 cancer is really serious and life threatening, whereas Stage 1 has a much better prognosis. It would be great if there could be more community education about different types of depression, in the similar way to cancer, instead of the one size fits all messaging that I see so often in the media, which diminishes the experience of people suffering from major or clinical depression and leaves many in the community with the view that it's only a matter of asking for help for the problem to be solved, like waving a magic wand. The sufferer can then be seen to be at fault (attention seeking, lazy etc) if they haven't got the help that they need because it's assumed that all they have to do is ask for it and all of their problems will immediately vanish. Thanks for this thread.

[blondguy]

Hi Leigh1987

Thanks for the great thread topic!

Just for your info...Jeff Kennett (former Premier of Victoria) mentioned 'Depression is a such an incorrect term for a mental illness that impacts so many people'

Depression as an illness has be diagnosed to start with

Excellent thread Leigh ...Nice1

Paul

[geoff]

Hi Everyone, the phrase “The Black Dog” was used as a metaphor for depression to Winston Churchill, and at somestage psychologists did try to rename depression, where manic-depressive illness is now called 'bipolar'.

Other types of depression exist where're called PND, PTSD, self harm and anxiety which also covers many disorders, so I've got OCD and that's what it's named, unfortunately, with this I've had depression which included many other types.

For me is much easier to such say that I've had this illness by one name, rather than all the several attached.

If you go to your doctor on any day, simply because you feel depressed and leave feeling much better, then depression doesn't only last one day, but sadness does, so I can understand where the confusion lies.

If this illness is taught in primary school or even at kindergarden then the distinction between being sad for a day and then compared to being in depression can be identified.

Beyond Blue has named different sections under it's 'mental health conditions'.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[Leigh1987]

Thanks everyone for all the thoughtful responses.

I hear what everyone is saying about education and awareness. This is an area that can always be improved upon. However I think we are already are doing well at this in Australia, there are many resources we can access and institutions we can utilise.

There is also widespread awareness in the medical community. When I have visited my gp for help I have always been met with understanding, compassion and a genuine desire to provide me with what I need to get better.

The term depression and even the term major depressive disorder is a gross oversimplification and not even necessarily an accurate description of what I experience day to day.

[Gonetroppo]

Having read these responses, it occurred to me that over-diagnosis is a problem. It's not uncommon to go to a GP feeling a bit down only to be told that you have depression and be handed a script for ADs. In some cases, as has happened to be, the script doesn't even come with a referral to a mental health professional. As a result, the term is applied indiscriminately, becomes overused and loses its meaning. I guess my point is, it doesn't matter what diagnostic label you attach to depression, while ever there is over-diagnosis or widespread misdiagnosis, the label will eventually lose its meaning. I think there needs to be better education at the primary health care level too.

A bit of trivia. Tim Finn, the brother of Neil Finn of Crowded House fame suffered depression. He named it the Dirty Creature which is where the Split Enz song Dirty Creature came from. Split Enz was Neil and Tim's original band. Probably showing my age with this little gem.