Is depression a “disease” or something else altogether? Does it matter what we call it?

We use the word “depression” as we use any word — as a short-hand to describe a set of common symptoms felt by an individual. But the depression experienced by Person A may have little in common, from a personal perspective, with depression experienced by Person B. I carefully refrain from using loaded words like “disease,” because depression simply hasn’t been proven to be like any usual disease (as researchers commonly define the word).

Bruce Levine, a psychologist, feels the same way and recently went on a little rant about the medicalization and disease model of mental disorders like depression (thanks to Furious Seasons for the link). I’m on Levine’s side, to a point… because I couldn’t understand what set him off. His rant is mainly directed at Peter Kramer’s 2005 book, Against Depression, which seemed a little odd to me given it’s a 2-year old book (and this is a new blog entry). Why pick on a 2-year-old book now and not, well, 2 years ago when it was published?

Then I got it. Levine’s own depression book, Surviving America’s Depression Epidemic, was just published at the end of October.

Levine has a point — we shouldn’t rush to label mental disorders as diseases when the evidence really isn’t there. But his own point, that depression in everyone is simply a “normal… human reaction” seems equally simplistic and an absurd deconstruction.

I know this is what passes for rational debate in American culture now, but seriously, why must these things be portrayed as black-and-white, all-or-nothing propositions? Isn’t it just as likely that depression and other serious mental disorders exist on a continuum of causative factors? That for some people, genetics or family biological correlates have a stronger influence on depression’s cause, while in others an environmental or personality issue brings out depression in us?

I find this kind of labeling debate ultimately devoid of usefulness. What people want is help for their depression and their emotional pain, not arguments about what may or may not have caused it. Nobody has the definitive answer to that question. Yet.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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depression » Blog Archive » Playing Word Games with Depression and Pain (12/3/2007)

Counseling Notes » Blog Archive » Depression: Disease or Not? (12/9/2007)

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Depression: Disease or Not? | Bowden McElroy (8/9/2008)

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 5 Dec 2007
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