Prevailing medical opinion on depression?

That it is a medical disorder caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.

is a psychiatrist the one who can prescribe drugs, or is it a psychologist? It depends on what state you're in, I think, too-- when I lived in Illinois it needed to be a mental health professional, but here in AZ, a GP can prescribe medication for anxiety or medication. I would talk to your GP again, or maybe find another one... your doctor should NOT be shooting things down, she should be giving you suggestions for things to help you!! Can you find a licensed counselor, at least, to talk to, and then possibly get information from a counselor talking about the symptoms, etc. that you could then take back to your GP to find a medication to help you?

Maybe it's because I've already been taking anti-depressants before I started seeing my current doctor, but every time I see him he asks me about my symptoms and how my depression is doing. Your GP is really letting you down with this one, in my opinion.

if you're employed, does your employer have an employee assistance program as part of the medical benefits? that's how I got help the first time; the employee assistance program was a toll-free, confidential phone number I called; they asked me a series of questions to assess my mental situation (was I in danger of hurting myself, rate things from 1-5 with 1 being every day, 5 being never, things like that) and I think they e-mailed me general information about depression as well as a list of counselors in my area that I could call for appointments.

Your GP needs to find a new job!! But she does have a point: you won't come out of the depression unless a part of you wants to. BUT: you might need medication to help you and you might need other kinds of treatment, but it will still require hard work on your part (been there, done that). It is hard to learn how to turn your thought processes around, but that is what a psycologist or psychatrist will help you with (but it will take time, and possibly medication too). 

Honestly, I would find a new GP. Even though a kick in the butt might be necessary at times, yelling at a patient isn't the way to do it. 

Unless the medication the psychatrist wants to prescribe effects the treatment the cardiologist is administering, he has no reason to "shoot it down". None! 

Serious illness is life altering, and what you are experiencing is not uncommon. Please trust me when I tell you that most people will learn how to live with their new normal, and that life will be good again. Different, but good.

hugs.

That's awful and I agree, time for a new GP by the sounds of it.

You said your cardiologist sent you to a psychiatrist. Then shot down all the recommendations. I would think that was unusual. Why? 

If if the treatment would not pose any complications to the heart issue why not try them? 

I think if a doctor started yelling at me, I would shut down to anything they said. At the very least, she has no patience and is probably not the right doc for you (or me). Hope you find someone to help you navigate through this soon so you find some relief. Take care.

I'm sorry you're going going through this.

In my experience, the current course of treatments is multi faceted. My Dr wouldn't prescribe mess for anxiety unless I was seeing a physiologist regularly first. I was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and it flared up due to a specific situation. I think my situation is treated differently then someone who has clinical depression. If I didn't agree to see a psychologist regularly my Dr wouldn't have medicated me, as I needed to also learn many coping strategies. In effect, I had to get up and help myself, show that I really wanted to change, before I could be medicated.

I'm not saying your Dr is or isn't wrong, I'm just saying that it is hard to understand someone's whole story / help give advice without all the proper background info. If you are unhappy with your care then it is time to seek help elsewhere. Just dig deep inside and decide if you'll get the same answer somewhere else or if you truly think you'll get a different answer.

In my situation, depression and anxiety were situational. Medication helped me cope, but the medication wasn't an easy type of medication to take. There were many side effects that caused me more troubles. As soon as I could, I got off the medication. The psycologist who helped me was invaluable. i have no experience with clinical depression.

Hugs to you. I know you must feel like you're at the bottom of a hole, but one day it will change and you'll feel better. Do you have a friend / relative who can go to the doctor with you and help advocate for you. One thing I learned at the psychologist is to never feel ashamed of how I feel. I have anxiety and I'm proud of it - it is part of who I am and it is the part that makes me an emotional, loving person. If something causes me depression or anxiety, I find someone to talk to immediately. And I have taken friends with me to the doctor when needed.

This post right here makes me wonder whether your PCP/cardiologist have made recommendations that you have rejected, or whether you have been non-compliant.   I can understand their frustration if this is the case. 

   I had "treatment resistant depression"- that was the official diagnosis for 10 years, so I'm very familiar with depression.  Here's my take on your situation: First of all you need to get rid of your GP. What he/she did is completely unethical. Depression is absolutely a chemical imbalance in the brain. You cannot wish, think, make yourself happy again no matter how hard you try. It is physically impossible! It's like a diabetic patient wishing he could give himself an insulin shot without physically doing it. In order to treat depression you have to change the chemical imbalance in the brain-you do that with medication. The only doctor who can do that is a psychiatrist or a GP. When it comes to depression a psychiatrist is far and above your best hope, because they are specially trained to treat depression. They know the different medications and how they interact far more thoroughly than a GP. A GP is just that-a General Practioner-they have to know everything about the human body.

I would also seriously consider changing your cardiologist. Right now you have a cardiologist unwilling to work with your psychiatrist and the suggestions he has made for your treatment-where does this leave you? Stuck is where. The only way you can get help (if you stick with this cardiologist) is if you are in danger of killing yourself which is when the ER is willing to help and what they do is place you on a 24 hour hold in a psych hospital where your will finally get the medication and help you need. Do not wait until then! The longer you wait to treat depression, the harder it is to get better!

You want a cardiologist and a psychiatrist who are willing to work together to treat you. That's what good doctors do-work together to treat their patients. My advice (after all this) is if you liked the psychiatrist you saw, is change the cardiologist and when you are looking for one at the first appointment explain what's going on, bring the psychiatrist’s card and tell him/her you are looking for a cardiologist willing to work with your psychiatrist. Any competent, honourable cardiologist will have no problem with this. They will work together to find a safe medication for you. I would completely drop the GP and never see him/her again, and when you are up to it leave some reviews on review websites explaining what this doctor did.

Depression is very hard. I wish for you speedy healing and a return to happiness. Hang in there, it will come.

Debbie in MD.

Nope.  You're nuts.

^^^ oh, I agree with that, absolutely. Outside stress, physical exercise, sleep, and what I'm eating are all players in how I feel, as well. But for me, having the medication sorted out so I could be more balanced FIRST helped me learn what 'normal' people felt like on any given day, and that then helped me to get the most out of the counseling sessions.

It's definitely a chemical imbalance in the brain. Anyone who says it's mind over matter is full of crap. There's a difference between feeling blue and having chemical depression. There are many wonderful drugs that can help immensely. Paxil saved my life in 1997 and there are many more good ones that are even better than the originals, Prozac and Paxil.

Please seek help immediately. I don't want you (or anyone else) to suffer the way I did. My daughter has suffered from depression since she was a child and I'm so glad the meds exist. Take care of yourself; you are worth it!

If I'm understanding you correctly, it sounds like you're agreeing with the doctor that OP needs to get better control of her "negative thoughts". IMO that is not correct. Depression is not "suppressed anger". Depression is a clinical term, and the imbalance isn't because of negative thoughts. Perhaps the approach you are describing would be helpful in a therapy setting, but that is different that the need to help with the physical ailment of depression that is currently being presented.