Empirical evidence allows for acceptance
The Translational Psychiatry journal published the findings of a recent study that has resulted in the first-ever blood test for major depressive disorders in teens. By comparing blood samples of teens both diagnosed and not diagnosed with depression, researchers were able to find patterned biological differences between the two groups.
As it stands, depression is diagnosed through psychological screening, rather than physical testing. Patients are evaluated by a medical professional who determines whether he or she fits indicative criteria listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Diagnoses made by using the DSM are generally accurate and psychological evaluation is an extremely low-cost process in comparison to blood testing. It is doubtful that it will replace evaluation as the main diagnostic method.
Blood testing does not need to replace the existing diagnostic method in order to contribute to an overall shift in public perception of mental illnesses. Being able to show biological proof of illness in addition to DSM screening will further verify depression and other mental conditions as biological illnesses.
Currently, up to 20 percent of adolescents and young adults in the U.S. suffer from depression, but 25 percent of them go undiagnosed or untreated. This is largely a result of the stigmas surrounding the condition.
According to the Uplift Program, an organization geared toward instilling positivity in depressed patients, 54 percent of people in the United States see depression as a personal weakness, and 15 percent of people suffering from depression will commit suicide. It is expected that depression will become the second most common cause of death in Americans by the year 2020, second only to heart disease.
Blood testing will not change what depression is, what it does or if treatments are effective. But removing some of the stereotypes surrounding depression may encourage teens to seek help earlier on in their lives. Currently, it is believed that the average onset age of clinical depression is 14. Treating mental illness in its early stages prevents the negative consequences that surround untreated mental illnesses, including high instances of substance abuse, physical illness and suicide.
Hopefully, instilling a level of empiricism in mental health diagnoses will help the general public recognize the legitimacy of depression and similar conditions. Using scientific methods to point to its presence in teens and young adults could help these illnesses being seen in the same light as physical illnesses and chronic diseases.
These studies will help people understand that the cure for depression is not simply to “pull yourself together,” which is reported by the Mental Health Connection website as being considered an effective treatment for depression by 60 percent of Americans. The public needs to move away from blaming mental illness in adolescents on hormones and instead recognize the biological, somatic effects of these disorders. These are not “teens being teens.” They’re people suffering from a sincere, debilitating medical illness.
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