Is Depression a Disease?

[TeaBag420]

So far, we have three terms here:

1. disease

2. psychological condition

3. illness

Without defining those terms, who gives a flying eff?

 

[Etonic]

That's more likely to be Borderline Personality Disorder, which is much more powerful than depression.

Borderline personality disorder is usually accompanied by one or more other disorders such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, premenstrual tension etc.

Sufferers of BPD often have a long history of depression. As with depression, BPD is often associated with decreased serotonin levels in the brain and may be treated with similar medications.

Both BPD and depression are very serious illnesses. To say that BPD is much more powerful than depression disregards the serious nature of depression as an illness in its own right.

 

[Jyera]

Quote by CBL4

Let's assume it is a disease. What changes?

Do you mean ...
"It doesn't matter what you call it, the need to attend to curing the disease or relieving an illness or symptom is unchanged."

I do think it matters what we call it.
Then we know what is the right thing to do.
Partly it is the usage of language causing part of the problem.

Consider what Goodwin said (page 2 and 3) in the debate.

Essentially he said that there is a difference between
"Depression" and "depression"
- "Depression" with a capital "D" which is a NAME for a medical condition defined by the medical authorities/community.
- "depression" which is usually taken to mean a "state of being depressed". This state could be symptom of a disease, or it could be a harmless temporary result of tired day.

But I do think it was wrong to have a disease called "Depression".

They could have called it SDD "Seretoni-Deficiency"Disease.
Or they could call it IFS Disease ("I feel sad") .
Or maybe Ameoba Depression Disease. (If Ameoba is a germ that caused brain damage and therefore caused the depressed mood).

Why call it "Depression" and create all the confusion?

 

[phildonnia]

A disease is something we are afraid to catch.
It means it is communicable.
Usually transmitted via virus or germ or human bodily fluid upon close contact.

The following are not diseases then:
Cancer
Heart Disease
Stroke
Diabetes
Emphysema
Osteoporosis
Leukemia
Tooth Decay

 

[LostAngeles]

So far, we have three terms here:

1. disease

2. psychological condition

3. illness

Without defining those terms, who gives a flying eff?

Ah, see I use disease and illness interchangably. For a nice loose definition, let's say they're a "biological disorder/malfunction, either temporary or not." That'll include things like cancer (malignant cell mutation), the flu (virus using your cells to replicate), genetic disorders, etc.

And yes, I am flying by the seat of my pants with that.

 

[TillEulenspiegel]

It would seem that the most accepted version of a description of the problem is that is a biochemical problem that has ties to serontonin production or uptake, expressed symptomatologically as a psychological distortion.

ALS is described as a disease, so is MS both arise in the body without an apparent outside agent such as a virus or bacterium, so I'm not so sure that classifying depression as disease is entirely incorrect.
Whether a disease or syndrome . the search for a word to classify this problem is surely less important then finding a cause/cure ( or treatment)

 

[CBL4]

They could have called it SDD "Seretoni-Deficiency"Disease.
Or they could call it IFS Disease ("I feel sad") .
Or maybe Ameoba Depression Disease. (If Ameoba is a germ that caused brain damage and therefore caused the depressed mood).

It clearly makes a difference if there are different triggers, different symtoms or different cures. If so, then there are multiple syndromes/diseases/disorders. Then we just get to the question, what difference does it make if I call Depression1 a syndromes/diseases/disorder?

CBL