how are you supposed to get diagnosed with depression/anxiety?

[anybody]

hi
in my mind ive felt ive suffered depression for many years.
Only the last few months ive spoken to doctor about it.
My previous doctor said it was depression and he referred me to a psychiatrist immediately, but that was cancelled as I had moved house.
My new doctor put me in touch with some mental health service (nurse) who i spoke to and she suggested i start on anti deppressant pills, so her report was sent to my doctor, who prescribed me citalopram 20mg.

But im slightly unhappy with how this has happened.
Ive pretty much done all my own reserach and reading and told these people what i think it is, and they just agree and.... i dont know, theres never been a thorough examination or anything, no questions asked of me.

Ive just started the pills today, first time in my life.
I really dont know if its depression, but when i do these online depression tests and read symptoms, it all points to severe depression. And also some form of anxiety after reading up on it. I went through the mental health conditions on wikipedia and there were a handful of them that related to me.

I am curious about anti depp. pills so its good im trying them now.
just feels the decision and diagnosis was not thorough.

Just wondered if this was the normal procedure, or if some other tests are done, or psychiatrist is best route.

it just feels like you tell the doctor you dont feel good mood wise, and they just class you as depressed.

i have read up on what citalopram is used to treat and it luckily enought seems to be a good choice theyve made.

but the person (nurse) who suggested i go on anti depp pills was not a doctor, and only said "it sounds like depression, ocd, anxiety".
Ill be going for cognitive behavioural therapy too.

so i really dont know if i am officially a depression sufferer or if its another related condition.

thanks for any help.

[debs71]

Hi,

To be honest, depression and anxiety is purely diagnosed based on a number of experienced symptoms only. There isn't any test that can be performed in the form of a physical one that tells a doctor, yes, this person is depressed/anxious.

You have to have been experiencing or displaying a number of things over a certain length of time, ie. low mood, isolation, fatigue for example for depression and with anxiety, they are looking at more physical as well as mental stuff, breathlessness, rapid heartbeat, depersonalisation, etc. This is why having a GOOD, EXPERIENCED health professional is crucial as they can identify depression and anxiety when they see it.

I was not diagnosed with any whistles and sirens either. I had been in and out of my doctors over a period of time until I literally broke down in front of her, so she identified my depression easily, based on the many stresses I had at that time as well.


They are also looking at a trigger for depression/anxiety too as you don't get it out of nowhere.


Please do bear in mind that a mental health nurse, though not a doctor, will be FAR more experienced at recognising depression than most GP's will.

To be honest, GP's will not ask lots and lots of questions, they will offer a diagnosis, but the causes and ins and outs are not really gone into until you see either a counsellor or psychologist, where they get down to the nitty gritty.

It sounds like you have a good GP as they referred you immediately and did not faff about.

Wishing you well.xxxx:hugs:

[anybody]

thankyou for nice post.

it just feels like ive done all the talking and legwork and just told them what i think it is, and they just say "yes ok, youre right".

the mental health nurse spoke to me on phone only, and i just spoke for 30mins about general feelings over past few years. But her only power was to say go on pills and do therapy, it sounded robotic and generic what she said.

i think im feeling a side affect from my first pill already. :scared15:

i have a student doctor friend who uses this GP website and there is a list of conditions for depression that you must fill, i was in the severe category. and i did hamilton depression rating online test and scored extrememly high.

the therapist will be able to tell if its something else when i start going there.

PS. i dont know the diff between sadness and depression. I always feel sad, i feel, but maybe its depression. Ive been feeling sad and down years.

[eight days a week]

Sorry for the short post but only have a few minutes!

My GP used some sort of official questionnaire to first diagnose me as depressed...I'm not sure if they all use them (?)

I guess the nurse and the doctor are pretty sure you're depressed if they want you to take ADs (?)

But if you want to know for certain what they've diagnosed you as you can ask your GP :)

Asking to see a psychiatrist again isn't a bad idea I think as they can give you a more 'expert' opinion (I am sure most GPs are already experts on depression these days, but I don't think anxiety is as well-understood by them yet). They can also perhaps put you on to other treatments that are available like CBT.

Good luck :)

[anybody]

Sorry for the short post but only have a few minutes!

My GP used some sort of official questionnaire to first diagnose me as depressed...I'm not sure if they all use them (?)

I guess the nurse and the doctor are pretty sure you're depressed if they want you to take ADs (?)

But if you want to know for certain what they've diagnosed you as you can ask your GP :)

Asking to see a psychiatrist again isn't a bad idea I think as they can give you a more 'expert' opinion (I am sure most GPs are already experts on depression these days, but I don't think anxiety is as well-understood by them yet). They can also perhaps put you on to other treatments that are available like CBT.

Good luck :)

i wish i had a questionnaire.
the nurse just suggested pills, i told GP i wanted to try them, so he gave them with not much forethought.

yeah im having CBT soon, they said if they cant deal with me, then theyll pass me on to someone else, ie psychiatrist etc. Trial and error process i guess.

[debs71]

Sorry for the short post but only have a few minutes!

My GP used some sort of official questionnaire to first diagnose me as depressed...I'm not sure if they all use them (?)

I guess the nurse and the doctor are pretty sure you're depressed if they want you to take ADs (?)

But if you want to know for certain what they've diagnosed you as you can ask your GP :)

Asking to see a psychiatrist again isn't a bad idea I think as they can give you a more 'expert' opinion (I am sure most GPs are already experts on depression these days, but I don't think anxiety is as well-understood by them yet). They can also perhaps put you on to other treatments that are available like CBT.

Good luck :)

Oh yes! I think I recall filling in a questionaire at one point as well. It is quite a while ago so I had forgotten. I recall that when I went for my first counselling session with MIND I had to fill in a long form with a number of questions regarding my thoughts and feelings.

I agree about the psychologist as they are very good at both recognising dep/anx and helping with the issues at hand.xx

[Swallowtail]

Hi Anybody, I was diagnosed with Stress related depression over 6 years ago, I felt like I was quietly going out of my head, I suffered from IBS, pain in my legs, over reaction to stressful events, feelings of wishing it would all feel much better if I could just let go of the steering wheel when driving, thankfully I did not, it took a family event, weekend away in a hotel, to make me seek help from my GP, I totally lost the plot when my son lost something, I just wanted to go home where I felt safe! but I was safe I was with my family. I did not have to fill out a form I just spoke it out loud and felt such relief when the GP told me that I had depression, I went onto meds, and I am so glad I did. It takes a few weeks for the meds to start to make a difference, hang in there. Accept help and support from your loved ones, I just wanted those close to me around me for a while, people I could trust. I have now had a bout of Anxiety, thought it was my depression coming back, this time I was given a questionnaire to complete, the scoring showed that it was Anxiety. There are so many symptoms, I did not get NHS counselling, GP at time did not believe in it, so I paid to go private in the end and it was so helpful. I am sure the CBT and future counselling will be a great help. Stay strong, you can do this :hugs:

[Alicat]

The questionnaire alot of mental health experts use is the Becks Depression Inventory. You can find it here http://www.mydrrachel.com/docs/BeckDepressionInventory.pdf

I guess the difference between sadness and depression is that depression goes on over a long period of time and is associated with feelings of general sadness, feeling hopeless and not being able to see anything positive. Also depression to me, feels like you've fallen down a hole and can't get out. So, it's difficult to 'pull yourself out'.

I went to the dr, told them how I was feeling. I've never been told 'we have diagnosed you with depression' but I've been treated for it, so I guess it's the same for you.

Hope that helps.

Hope that helps.

[anybody]

just seen a psychologist, still no testing done.
just simply a questionnaire rating depression and anxiety
this is rubbish. this is not accurate. this is not right.
what if i had such and such condition, how would they find out?
i have to diagnose myself and tell the doctor?

[eight days a week]

I don't really understand your question anybody, sorry.

Going back to your original post, it sounds like you were already diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and that you already had worked that out for yourself.

Are you wanting someone medical to tell you 'yes, this is exactly what you have?' and pin that label on you?

If so I completely understand, but for some reason the NHS doesn't really seem to work like that for mental health (at least in my experience).

[anybody]

thanks.

why does all mental health default to Depression and anxiety? its not right.
theres hundreds of other conditions. i have actually made up a list of potential
ones that i might have.

no one diagnosed me. A nurse said she 'thought it sounded like depression'.
doctor took this advice and gave pills. CBT said depression, l.......the only
questionnaires are for depp and anxiety, its not as simple as that for me i feel.
yes it probably is deep and anxiety related, but thats not the whole story.

id like a battery of tests done, to determine what it is.
so then we can learn more about it and better tackle it.
as my current help = pills and therapy, has left me even more angry and fed up.
and pills and cbt is supposed to be winning formula for depression.

and the only other q they ask is 1) can you see things or hear things that are not there?
i say no, so they say oh ur not shizophrenic then.
well ive read that you dont need to see or hear things to be classed as schizophrenic, theres a bunch of other symptoms that i have related to schizophrenia.

i tell them every time, this process is making me more and more angry.
they say its depression but they dont say why i am and how to overcome it.