Article RFK Jr. plans to curb antidepressants

[Magical Realist]

The difference is that insulin, blood thinners, etc. are prescribed for objective physiological problems. They are prescribed by medical doctors who are fully trained to do the complete diagnostic tests to determine these physiological problems.

Not true for migraine sufferers, which is an affliction not traceable to an "objective physiological problem". So basically they are prescribed medications based on self-reported symptoms. Also not true for many chronic pain sufferers. How is this ok but being prescribed a medication for your self-reported depression wrong?

[Syne]

As a past migraine sufferer, migraines have physiological symptoms, including sensory disturbances (visual, auditory, smell), dizziness, nausea, fatigue, numbness, and tingling. IOW, there is some objective evidence of a physiological problem.

You'll notice that the OP says "overmedicalization," not banning anti-depressants. Overmedicating can be true of painkillers as well.

[Magical Realist]

As a past migraine sufferer, migraines have physiological symptoms, including sensory disturbances (visual, auditory, smell), dizziness, nausea, fatigue, numbness, and tingling. IOW, there is some objective evidence of a physiological problem.

All of which are subjective self-reported symptoms and not objective physiological ones. There are, iow, no scans or meters showing such symptoms occurring.

You'll notice that the OP says "overmedicalization," not banning anti-depressants. Overmedicating can be true of painkillers as well.

"Overmedicalizing" is another word for attributing depression to a physiological problem that can be treated with medication. There are always bad doctors, but the majority usually test their patients to rule out circumstantial causes for depression like the death of a loved one or losing a job or a dead end career. The tests are rigorously structured and reliable indicators of physiologically-caused depression. Losing interest in everything and sleeping too much/too little are big red flags.

[Syne]

As a past migraine sufferer, migraines have physiological symptoms, including sensory disturbances (visual, auditory, smell), dizziness, nausea, fatigue, numbness, and tingling. IOW, there is some objective evidence of a physiological problem.

All of which are subjective self-reported symptoms and not objective physiological ones. There are, iow, no scans or meters showing such symptoms occurring.

No, vomiting is not subjective.

You'll notice that the OP says "overmedicalization," not banning anti-depressants. Overmedicating can be true of painkillers as well.

"Overmedicalizing" is another word for attributing depression to a physiological problem that can be treated with medication. There are always bad doctors, but the majority usually test their patients to rule out circumstantial causes for depression like the death of a loved one or losing a job or a dead end career. The tests are rigorously structured and reliable indicators of physiologically-caused depression. Losing interest in everything and sleeping too much/too little is a big red flag.

Overmedicalization is the process by which non-medical human conditions and problems become defined and treated as medical issues, often resulting in unnecessary, costly, and potentially harmful diagnostic or treatment interventions. It shifts focus from social, behavioral, or environmental causes to individual, pharmacological, or surgical solutions.
- Gemini

I can see why you'd want to make up your own unique definition.

Again, a single 1-3 month residency rotation versus 4 years of training. Medical doctors only do a basic screening, with only a questionnaire as a diagnosis tool and only taking about 15 minutes. A psychiatrist is knowledgeable of DSM-5 criteria and typically takes 30-60 minutes to diagnose.

One of those sounds more prone to view everything as a "medical issue."

[Magical Realist]

No, vomiting is not subjective.

You said nausea, not vomiting liar. Nausea is subjective and self-reported.

Overmedicalization is the process by which non-medical human conditions and problems become defined and treated as medical issues, often resulting in unnecessary, costly, and potentially harmful diagnostic or treatment interventions.

Which is exactly what I defined it as and which is eliminated by submitting patients to reliable and rigorous diagnostic testing. Unlike you who confused it with "overmedicating"..lol

"Depression is diagnosed by healthcare providers—such as doctors, psychologists, or psychiatrists—based on a clinical evaluation of symptoms, medical history, and mental health history. A diagnosis typically requires at least five symptoms lasting nearly every day for at least two weeks, including a depressed mood or loss of interest in activities.

Key Diagnostic Components:

Clinical Interview: Professionals ask about symptoms, their severity, duration, and personal/family mental health history.

Diagnostic Criteria (DSM-5): Providers use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) to identify specific depressive disorders.

Physical Examination & Lab Tests: Doctors may perform physicals or order blood tests to rule out underlying medical causes (like thyroid issues or vitamin deficiencies).

Screening Questionnaires: Tools such as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) are used to gauge symptom severity.

Key Symptoms for Diagnosis

According to Mayo Clinic, to be diagnosed with clinical depression (Major Depressive Disorder), at least five of the following must be present, with at least one being either (1) or (2):

Depressed mood: Sadness, emptiness, or hopelessness.

Loss of interest/pleasure:

Anhedonia, or inability to enjoy activities.

Appetite or weight changes: Significant weight loss or gain.

Sleep disturbances: Insomnia or sleeping too much.

Psychomotor agitation or retardation: Restlessness or slowed movement.

Fatigue: Lack of energy almost every day.Worthlessness or guilt: Excessive guilt or fixating on past failures.

Cognitive difficulties: Trouble concentrating or making decisions.

Suicidal thoughts: Recurring thoughts of death or suicide."

[Syne]

No, vomiting is not subjective.

You said nausea, not vomiting liar. Nausea is subjective and self-reported.

In my migraines, nausea always progressed to vomiting.
But can people game the system for pain meds? Sure.

Overmedicalization is the process by which non-medical human conditions and problems become defined and treated as medical issues, often resulting in unnecessary, costly, and potentially harmful diagnostic or treatment interventions.

Which is exactly what I defined it as and which is eliminated by submitting patients to reliable and rigorous diagnostic testing. Unlike you who confused it with "overmedicating"..lol

Liar.

"Overmedicalizing" is another word for attributing depression to a physiological problem that can be treated with medication.

I can always tell when you're about to lie. Because you always project it, by calling someone else a liar. It's funny how little control you seem to have over that.

[Magical Realist]

In my migraines, nausea always progressed to vomiting.
But can people game the system for pain meds? Sure.

Nausea and vomiting are two separate things. And nausea doesn't necessarily lead to vomiting.

Overmedicalization is the process by which non-medical human conditions and problems become defined and treated as medical issues, often resulting in unnecessary, costly, and potentially harmful diagnostic or treatment interventions.

Which is exactly what I defined it as and which is eliminated by submitting patients to reliable and rigorous diagnostic testing. Unlike you who confused it with "overmedicating"..lol

Liar.
(2 hours ago)Magical Realist Wrote:
"Overmedicalizing" is another word for attributing depression to a physiological problem that can be treated with medication.

Back to lying again I see. Here's my full statement on what overmedicalization is and how it is prevented. It is the exact same definition you quoted:

"Overmedicalizing" is another word for attributing depression to a physiological problem that can be treated with medication. There are always bad doctors, but the majority usually test their patients to rule out circumstantial causes for depression like the death of a loved one or losing a job or a dead end career. The tests are rigorously structured and reliable indicators of physiologically-caused depression. Losing interest in everything and sleeping too much/too little are big red flags."

And since it took you all of 3 posts to revert to your lying-ass word-twisting true self again, we now return to your regularly-scheduled program of being ignored. Enjoy!

[Syne]

In my migraines, nausea always progressed to vomiting.
But can people game the system for pain meds? Sure.

Nausea and vomiting are two separate things. And nausea doesn't necessarily lead to vomiting.

Never said otherwise. Just relating my own experience.
Oh, and I never resorted to meds.

Overmedicalization is the process by which non-medical human conditions and problems become defined and treated as medical issues, often resulting in unnecessary, costly, and potentially harmful diagnostic or treatment interventions.

Which is exactly what I defined it as and which is eliminated by submitting patients to reliable and rigorous diagnostic testing. Unlike you who confused it with "overmedicating"..lol

Liar.

"Overmedicalizing" is another word for attributing depression to a physiological problem that can be treated with medication.

Back to lying again I see. Here's my full statement on what overmedicalization is and how it is prevented.

You're projecting and illiterate again. 9_9

It is the exact same definition you quoted:

"Overmedicalizing" is another word for attributing depression to a physiological problem that can be treated with medication. There are always bad doctors, but the majority usually test their patients to rule out circumstantial causes for depression like the death of a loved one or losing a job or a dead end career. The tests are rigorously structured and reliable indicators of physiologically-caused depression. Losing interest in everything and sleeping too much/too little are big red flags."

Yes. When you say "Overmedicalizating is..." you are literally defining it.
Whatever else you blather about trying to justify your ignorance is meaningless twaddle.

Especially when you're too intellectually dishonest to even attempt to address the discrepancies between 4 years of training and a single 1-3 month residency rotation... or a 15 minute basic assessment and a 30-60 minute diagnosis.

Medical doctor questionnaires for mental illness—such as the PHQ-9 for depression or GAD-7 for anxiety—are generally rigorously structured and reliable tools for screening, measuring symptom severity, and monitoring treatment, but they are not intended to be a definitive, stand-alone diagnosis. While they provide valuable data, they rely on self-reporting and can sometimes misidentify, overdiagnose, or underdiagnose conditions compared to professional clinical interviews.
- Gemini

See how I even included your "rigorously structured and reliable" claim? Yeah, that's an example of intellectual honesty, where I'm willing to steelman the opposing argument, even if I risk being wrong. But alas... 9_9

And since it took you all of 3 posts to revert to your lying-ass word-twisting true self, we now return to ignoring you. Enjoy!

Projecting again. 9_9

Apparently it gets worse when someone points it out so directly.


BTW, whatever happened to ignoring me? I knew you couldn't control yourself.

[Syne]

Are We Creating Mental Illness? The Hidden Forces Turning Stress Into Sickness
Could mental health awareness be making people psychologically sicker? That’s the thesis of a fascinating paper by psychologists at the University of Toronto Dasha Sandra and Michael Inzlicht. There’s been a massive increase in both the number of people being diagnosed with a mental health condition and the number of people on psychiatric medications, while mental health awareness campaigns and school programs screening students for mental health disorders are ubiquitous. So why does it seem like our problems with mental illness aren’t getting better?
...
When it comes to mental health, though, more and more evidence is showing that making people aware of the problem makes people worse, not better. Therapists and psychiatrists are seeing patients come to their offices with self-diagnosed conditions that they picked up from TikTok. Parents and teachers report that kids are struggling more and more as they complain that their mental illnesses are impairing their daily lives. What’s happening here?

Sandra and Inzlicht argue that there are four key processes causing well-intentioned mental health awareness efforts to backfire: concept creep, nocebo effects, prevalence inflation, and illness self-labeling.
...
Concept creep is when a definition expands over time to include more things or less intense versions of the thing it originally referred to. Trauma is a perfect example; over the past few decades, the official definition of trauma in diagnosing PTSD expanded from events that were well outside the range of normal human experience to anything life-threatening and then further to simply hearing about the traumatic event happening to a loved one. Unofficially, people nowadays have a tendency to use “trauma” to describe just about any bad thing they’ve experienced. When more and more people consider themselves victims of trauma, they’re all the more likely to feel powerless and unable to overcome the bad things they’ve experienced.

You’ve heard of the placebo effect; when someone takes a pill, he’s more likely to feel better even if it doesn’t contain an actual drug. The nocebo effect is the opposite: If patients are told that a pill can cause headache and nausea, they’re more likely to experience negative “side effects” even if the pill they took doesn’t contain any active ingredients. If someone watches a reel explaining eight symptoms of depression, someone who has two of those symptoms and thinks “I have depression” is at risk for developing more of those symptoms because she expects her experience to follow what she’s learned from social media.

Prevalence inflation has to do with classifying normal experiences of stress, worry, or sadness as symptoms of a disorder. Everyone has negative feelings from time to time, but people are easily confused by awareness campaigns suggesting that these feelings might be the tip of a psychiatric iceberg. Once someone is convinced that their feelings represent some kind of psychological pathology, it’s a downhill slide to reinterpreting everything in their life through the lens of “I have anxiety” or “I’m depressed.” The more people who consider themselves depressed or anxious, the more common the problem seems and the more people feel the need to describe their feelings in the most severe terms.

Developing the symptoms of a rare disorder after watching influencers talk about their diagnosis may be an extreme example, but it’s easy for people to get sicker when they label themselves as mentally ill. If someone expects that “being depressed” means feeling powerless and suicidal, they can easily slip into acting as though their powerlessness is the dominant feature of their illness. This, in turn, makes their lives worse because they are less likely to exercise their agency and make good choices for themselves.
...


Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Illness?
Are we talking too much about mental health? According to an article in The New York Times, a growing number of researchers are suggesting that, while mental health awareness campaigns help educate the public, they can also lead people with mild symptoms to over-interpret and over-diagnose their stress. This, in turn, can lead to more distress, fear, and hesitancy about living a normal life.

Recent large-scale studies of mental health interventions in schools have found that some students get worse as a result, due to anxiously ruminating on the belief that they have mental illness. A recent study in JAMA Psychiatry found that the risk of mental disorders increased up to 18% in adolescents who had multiple peers who were already diagnosed with a mental health condition. The researchers concluded that social transmission of mental disorders was occurring in teenage peer groups. Their findings echoed a previous study of adults that also endorsed social influences in major depression, finding that people with higher rates of the illness among family and friends were more likely to be depressed themselves.

Meanwhile, Abigail Shrier’s “Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up” is a Times bestseller. Shrier articulates what a large number of people appear to be thinking: The “mental health industry” has created a generation of “emotional hypochondriacs” who take normal stresses and pains in life as signs that they have mental illness. This, she claims, leads to emotional fragility rather than the resilience and self-belief that people need to make their way successfully through the challenges of life.
...



A growing body of research suggests that while mental health awareness is crucial, modern society is simultaneously identifying more conditions, lowering the threshold for diagnosis, and in some cases, socially transmitting symptoms, creating a phenomenon where more people are diagnosed with mental illnesses. Roughly 50% of people will experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime, highlighting both high prevalence and increased detection.
- Gemini