Posted by bleauberry on December 6, 2008, at 18:08:35
In reply to Bereavement Depression Treat Same As Major Deprssi, posted by Phillipa on December 5, 2008, at 21:26:13
If the person does not have a history of psychiatric treatment, then I feel bereavement depression should be treated psychologically not biologically. Whether it is the loss of a loved one, loss of a career, loss of home, loss of money, loss of marriage, whatever...it has an identifiable cause. If you ask someone where their depression comes from and they say they don't know, that is biological in its roots. If they say they do know where it comes from, then that issue needs to be treated with a good counselor and church and psychotherapist so as to understand the whole process, what to do now, and where life should be a few months from now, and where life should be a few years from now. Just putting things into context and into the bigger picture can help a lot, but it often takes a professional to do that. Just talking with friends probably won't cut it.
Letting it go untreated though, allowing time by itself to do the healing, injects the possibility of the hormone/stress system to malfunction long enough that it turns into biological depression. That needs to be avoided with prompt treatment, but drugs should not be the first line of attack.
Just my opinions. No black or white. No right or wrong. Just how I feel. If you know where it comes from, get help. If you don't, get meds.
poster:bleauberry
thread:866926
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081204/msgs/867100.html