And what I'm getting at is the fact that there SHOULD be a blood test. Or a biopsy. Or something more concrete.
Is it not possible? I'd like scientific research to say that it is impossible.
Is it not possible? I'd like scientific research to say that it is impossible.
I think the answer to both lies in the same area though, since the source of depression is not clear in the brain (I believe there was a study that shown SSRIs have an immediate effect on serotonin re-uptake yet takes a number of weeks to ease depression - implying serotonin doesn't play such a direct role as once believed).
The main issue I have is that people think our understanding of mental illness / psychiatry is as good as say pathology.
My main point is that, from my own person experiences through the whole system, treatment seems the most broken aspect. Diagnosis of depression is possible without a blood-test, as are other physical illnesses, the signs are obvious. The treatment is not as trivial, you won't do well to "let it run it's course", the drugs are gruelling and may not even work and therapy requires drive a depressed person hasn't got.