Posted by gardenergirl on August 29, 2007, at 10:38:33
In reply to Re: To the people who don't believe in biological dep., posted by rskontos on August 29, 2007, at 10:05:46
I don't believe that "bashing" someone's belief system about their depression or other illness is likely to be helpful to them. However, if someone is taking a unilateral approach to treatment, i.e. either medical intervention or psychological or alternative, etc., AND if this approach is not working, it might be helpful to talk to them about other ways of thinking about depression and treatment. If someone is continuing to "do the same thing" even though it's not working and they expect different results, I think they are more likely to be disappointed. But trying a different approach, or adding a different approach is making a change that could lead to a different result. It's been shown in the literature that a combination of medical plus psychological interventions often is more effective in treating many types of depression than either one alone. (Sorry for general language and no cites...in a hurry here.)
So encouraging someone to think about cause and treatment from a different perspective, while respecting their beliefs, can be helpful and educational, imo. But that last part is crucial--respect.
gg, who hasn't read the whole thread, so if this is a redux of someone else's post, I apologize.
poster:gardenergirl
thread:775476
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070824/msgs/779516.html