Comments on: Do we Need a Lab Test for Depression?

By: resonance

resonance — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:40:13 +0000

I think the value to patients of a biological test for depression isn’t so much to ensure that the diagnosis is accurate as to validate their experience that their pain is really real. Both to validate it to themselves and to validate it to others.

Depression is no more and no less real with a biological test than it is without. Likewise for emotional pain. But there’s nothing like being able to tell someone who says “You need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps” that laboratory tests showed that you really have a real biological problem.

I’m not trying to denigrate anyone here. Denial of the reality of “psychological” as opposed to “physical” problems has big impacts on patients’ lives, and having a Real (read: laboratory) Test for it would help place what is a very real disorder into many peoples’ implicit definitions of “real disorder”.

By: 7 Best Free Depression Tests | Healthy Health List (heheli.com)

7 Best Free Depression Tests | Healthy Health List (heheli.com) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:34:43 +0000

[...] Don’t let depression become your friend. Go to the doctor or test yourself online and treat this sad thing. But there are also doubts “Do we Need a Lab Test for Depression?” – John M. Grohol: But right now, we have 5 questions for depression that can tell a person in about 1 minute whether they may have depression. A more in-depth diagnostic interview, given by an experienced mental health professional such as a psychologist can reliably detect the presence of depression in most people in under 90 minutes (which will still be faster and likely cheaper than the laboratory test). [...]

By: John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

John M. Grohol, Psy.D. — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:44:53 +0000

314159pi……… Indeed, if that were possible, that would be very cool. But we’re a long, long way away from such specificity in our treatments.

Paul, the interesting thing about tests for me is that if they can delineate depression regardless of cause, it still may be helpful to those who may not realize they are depressed…

By: Paul Maurice Martin

Paul Maurice Martin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:09:28 +0000

Seems like the causes of depression are so complex that I doubt it will ever turn out there’s a straightforward link between biology and all cases of clinical depression.

I was depressed in my mid teens through early twenties and it ended literally overnight – a spontaneous version of the kind of experience sought in meditation. Same biology, new outlook – the event took place 25 years ago and it stuck.

I think there’s often a spiritual component to severe depression and that this tends to get downplayed or even overlooked.

By: 314159pi

314159pi — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:13:56 +0000

i felt the original article was optimistic because it contextualized the the biological depression test in terms of ideally matching patients with their most efficacious antidepressants. And that would be a real boon.

By: depression » Blog Archive » Do we Need a Lab Test for Depression?

depression » Blog Archive » Do we Need a Lab Test for Depression? — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:02:04 +0000

[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]

By: Do we Need a Lab Test for Depression? · One Looking

Do we Need a Lab Test for Depression? · One Looking — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:54:16 +0000

[...] Technology | Guardian Unlimited wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt Researchers continue to pursue a biological laboratory test for some of the most common and serious mental disorders, as they’ve been doing now for over a decade. I think it’s always infinitely harder to test for something when you don’t really understand the basis of how it actually works in our brains: Despite decades of research, the biological basis of depression is unknown, and the molecular and cellular targets of antidepressant treatment remain elusive, although it is likely that these [...]

By: Do we Need a Lab Test for Depression? : Anxiety-Stress

Do we Need a Lab Test for Depression? : Anxiety-Stress — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:00:03 +0000

[...] Original post by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. [...]