Posted by katekite on July 1, 2002, at 15:37:10
In reply to Is this sadness/grief or is it depression?, posted by dave_fox on July 1, 2002, at 1:46:17
I agree it sounds worrisome. On the other hand, almost everyone experiences some depression at some point in their lives and it has only been in the last 10 years or so that we would even think of getting someone to take meds as soon as this. Many people recover on their own.
Grief is depression. Some people take meds for grief-type depression if it's bad enough, others try to get through it without.
I'm wondering if maybe she could be convinced to see a general practitioner doctor on the off-chance that she has some actual medical problem. Thyroid or adrenal problems, I'm sure other things too, can cause or look like depression... so at least she could get those things ruled out. Also, a doctor would then know, at least, that she was depressed, maybe have a recheck appointment to see how she is doing a week later -- she would have a professional to call if it wasn't getting better. So that you aren't the only person aware of this.
Keep on trying to drag her out to do things -- try getting her to go for a walk or to a movie even if she doesn't really feel like it.
You sound concerned: you are wonderful for caring.
The DSM IV is a book that is the agreed guidelines for saying 'what is depression'. I think it is supposed to be 2 weeks, but I can't recall for sure. If you type "dsm IV and depression" into a search engine like yahoo or google you should be able to find the exact guidelines.
Hope she feels better soon.
poster:katekite
thread:111107
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020628/msgs/111140.html