Why is it called mental illness?

[illykitty]

Regardless of what you mean by "related to issues with brain dysfunctions," no Major Depressive Disorder is defined or diagnosed on the basis of any objective biological measurement of "brain function".

Indeed, according to the DSM, the symptoms by which an episode of "depression" is diagnosed are overtly socially relative, i.e., depends on what is "an expectable and culturally sanctioned response to a particular event".

No idea what the way it is diagnosed with has to do with it. Yes, it is diagnosed a certain way but there's been some brain scans and other research done on the brain of depressed patients which shows differences with healthy brains. This shows a physical brain problem as well.

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=depression brain chemistry
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...n=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=depression+brain+reward
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...pv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=depression+brain+connectivity

Here's a few links to get you started.

 

[Nous]

No idea what the way it is diagnosed with has to do with it.

If you began telling a doctor your physical complaints, and without performing any sort of tests, told you that you have a disease that isn't defined by and can't be determined by any objective test, and that you need to starting taking the drug(s) he prescribes, you would probably recognize that this doctor is a quack engaged in medical malpractice. Right? How is that any different than a diagnosis and drug treatment for a mental disorder?

Yes, it is diagnosed a certain way but there's been some brain scans and other research done on the brain of depressed patients which shows differences with healthy brains. This shows a physical brain problem as well.

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=depression brain chemistry
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...n=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=depression+brain+reward
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...pv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=depression+brain+connectivity

Here's a few links to get you started.

Define the "differences" by which a Major Depressive Episode can be diagnosed. Then explain why that difference or those differences are not used in the DSM or ICD.

 

[sun rise]

It's easy to ignore the complexity in diagnosing mental illness and to ignore that sometimes there is a totally provable biological basis. Here's one example of how brain tumors can cause a symptom of depression. There are many other such reports as this one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/depression-brain-tumor-symptom_us_56788432e4b0b958f657b407

Medicine is very inexact all too often. I went to the doctor with pain in my wrist/thumb and the doc said "it could be tendonitis, it could be arthritis - let's see what happens in the next few weeks". And this was something much less complex than what goes on in the brain.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

The idea that there is a total division between physical and mental illness in cause or presentation is misleading. It would be even more so if we created a separate third division.

A woman why has polycystic ovarian syndrome can have depression stemming from that disorder. Cysts on the ovaries cause an irregularity of hormone production which alters serotonin response which alters brain chemistry which causes depression. That is just an example where physical, mental and emotional symptoms are all interconnected.

 

[Deidre]

Because everything we experience really stems from our brain functions? That would be my best guess. Our brain controls our emotions, as well.

 

[Whiterain]

Honestly, I refuse to subject myself to the Board of Medicines bull**** and constant experiments in practice medicine...

I enjoy my psychosis myself. It hath made me incredibly hilarious, but the proverbial pickle I am in in in fact detrimental for the future of the annihilation RETARDATION of Mankind.

Anyway.. I had brain damage from being hit in the head extremely hard and God fixed me and stuff.. He's pretty smart and stuff.


RETARDATION I SAY ONTO THE.

 

[Nous]

It's easy to ignore the complexity in diagnosing mental illness and to ignore that sometimes there is a totally provable biological basis. Here's one example of how brain tumors can cause a symptom of depression. There are many other such reports as this one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/depression-brain-tumor-symptom_us_56788432e4b0b958f657b407

Notice that in my above post (#19) I specified "no primary mental disorder (i.e.,those classifications that are said to be not due to the effects of a drug or a “general medical condition”) is diagnosed on the basis of objective biological criteria." In the DSM-III, the APA created a whole new nosology of "organic mental disorders" (in addition to all of the other mental disorders), whose diagnostic criteria often did refer to some at least vaguely measurable biological criteria--e.g., tachycardia was a criterion of amphetamine intoxication and amphetamine intoxication anxiety disorder, caffeine intoxication, and (I think) various of the alcohol withdrawal mental disorders (e.g., alcohol withdrawal hallucinosis; alcohol withdrawal depressive disorder). But this classification of "organic mental disorders" was repudiated in the DSM-IV, where the list of these "organic mental disorders" was divided into 2 different categories--mental disorders due the direct effects of a substance, and mental disorders due to a "general medical condition." The first DSM-IV and every DSM since has said that these mental disorders due to either the direct effects of a substance or to a "general medical condition" are distinct from "primary" mental disorders. The clinician must rule out a mental disorder due to a substance or "general medical condition" in order to diagnose a "primary mental disorder.".

A "mental disorder" caused by a brain tumor would be a mental disorder due to a "general medical condition," not a "primary mental disorder".

 

[Nous]

The idea that there is a total division between physical and mental illness in cause or presentation is misleading.

See my above. The DSM distinguishes between "primary" mental disorders (whose cause is not specified, and apparently not known) and mental disorders due to the direct effects of a substance or due to a "general medical condition".

Depression caused by a disruption in hormone cycles as a result of a ovarian cyst would be a "mental disorder due to a general medical condition".

No primary mental disorder is defined or diagnosed on the basis of objective biological criteria.