When Therapy (Almost) Fails

Depression is a very invasive mental illness. I've never had clinical depression, but I know many people who have dealt with depression on various levels.

A professor of psychiatry wrote a good NYTimes article titled When All Else Fails, Blaming the Patient Often Comes Next. He gives three cases where patients were blamed by professionals for the continuation of their disease. All three patients eventually found relief from their mental disorders when given the correct therapy.

It can be extremely frustrating for friends and family dealing with loved ones who have untreated depression, but apparently, it can be frustrating for therapists too. Sometimes finding the right drugs or therapies or both to treat a patient can be quite elusive, so some therapists may start to escalate the patient's diagnosis or worse, declare that the patient is unwilling to be well.

I can understand this tendency to blame the patient because depression can cause lethargy and self doubt - both of which can make treatment or steps to resolution much more difficult. Then those of us on the outside are struck determining whether the incompliant behavior is a result of depression or a personality flaw. It seems like persistence with therapy is the key.