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?

[DedicatedToHealth]

Wow, so many good points raised. Thank you.

IMO the word depression is often casually used/mis-used/misunderstood. This creates a lack of understanding of what is really going on, what is helpful for people with depression (as opposed to just being low/going through lives ups and downs).

I don't know if a name change would help, maybe it's worth considering.

ideally I want less pressure on sufferers to: snap out of it, stop thinking negatively, see the bright side of life etc and start addressing what is it that individuals are experiencing and what they need. I can't help but feel it is different for all of us.

It really does grip you physically/mentally.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi,

Really good thoughts here and thank you for starting this conversation.

For me personally, I'm fine with the term depression but I'm not fine with the way it's used casually in society. We've done a really good job (as a Western culture) in making it a bit better, but we still associate depression with stress and sadness when depression is actually a name for a mental illness - and far more intense than 'a bit sad'. I actually think that this happens also with OCD, because we have comments like "I'm so OCD in organising my bookshelf" or "I have to check my stove it's so OCD" when this couldn't be more untrue - and is extremely stigmatising. Anxiety can be a whole new can of worms because the experience of anxiety itself is totally normal, and then at the other end of the spectrum we have 'Generalised Anxiety Disorder' which is a mental illness.

It can all be misdiagnosed and overused as well, since people can be diagnosed with Depression even if their mood is explained by normal life events - i.e. grief naturally comes along with sadness (aka. exhibit signs of depression) but I don't think in this case it should be "a mental illness".

I do like the idea of grades since I personally see a lot of it on a spectrum. I think the DSM (or Diagnosis description) would probably put everything here at the level 4 equivalent - because for it to be a diagnosis, it has to have a significant impact on our quality of life. It's also hard when scripts and referrals are apart of this, as even Medicare and Gov systems require a diagnosis just to write it all up.

rt

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi,
Really good thoughts here and thank you for starting this conversation.
For me personally, I'm fine with the term depression but I'm not fine with the way it's used casually in society. We've done a really good job (as a Western culture) in making it a bit better, but we still associate depression with stress and sadness when depression is actually a name for a mental illness - and far more intense than 'a bit sad'. I actually think that this happens also with OCD, because we have comments like "I'm so OCD in organising my bookshelf" or "I have to check my stove it's so OCD" when this couldn't be more untrue - and is extremely stigmatising. Anxiety can be a whole new can of worms because the experience of anxiety itself is totally normal, and then at the other end of the spectrum we have 'Generalised Anxiety Disorder' which is a mental illness.
It can all be misdiagnosed and overused as well, since people can be diagnosed with Depression even if their mood is explained by normal life events - i.e. grief naturally comes along with sadness (aka. exhibit signs of depression) but I don't think in this case it should be "a mental illness".
I do like the idea of grades since I personally see a lot of it on a spectrum. I think the DSM (or Diagnosis description) would probably put everything here at the level 4 equivalent - because for it to be a diagnosis, it has to have a significant impact on our quality of life. It's also hard when scripts and referrals are apart of this, as even Medicare and Gov systems require a diagnosis just to write it all up.
rt