Levels Of Depression

[sbrewer]

Is there a definition for different levels of depression?

As in minor depression or major depression or whatever.

thanks,

sbrewer

[sbrewer]

Am I missing something?

I went back to re-read my post and the responses and some are missing.

The ones from, at least I thought, it was dancanmt. Did something happen to this?

sbrewer

[Berta]

"The degree of Doctor of Philosophy, a higher degree than an Honours or Masters degree, involving at least two and a half years of supervised research resulting in a thesis. PhD graduates may call themselves “Dr”."

This is a Phd. If I stay at school beyond Masters, I will have a Phd and be called Doctor-

An MD is a medical doctor- if they are a psychiatrist, they are an MD with expertise in the filed of psychiatry.

A Psychiatrist out ranks a Phd Psychologist .

I say if a psychologist (VA or private)gives you a proper opinion with full medical rationale ,that helps your claim and reflects the actual picture of your symtoms etc., that is what you should use to support your claim.

If it is from a Psychiatrist (VA or private) it has more punch behind it.

This shrink you mentioned sounds very biased against vets- I feel you would be better off getting a good IMO from a real MD-Psychiatrist-

A real doc will give the MMPI, Weshler, the HAnd Test, Trails Mosing, etc etc-

maybe 6 and maybe less tests that reflect -as well known acceptable evidence in the standard medical community- the actual proper diagnosis and extent of disability.

Our VA had one of the best PTSD shrinks around- a psychiatrist- it took an act of Congress for him to take over my husband's VA shrink care-

as my husband had been a former VA employee and they kept him with the VA employee shrink- who didnt have a clue as to PTSD-

He gave a battery of tests to Rod and could assess the significant brain damage (from 1151 stroke) and separate that completely from his PTSD- 100%SC- as the psychiatrist determined-and when VA got this report (they 'lost' it for years-then refused to acknowledge )the veteran-already dead by then for three years, got 100% SC PTSD posthumous award.

I say get a real doctor.and get an MD shrink.

Edited April 8, 2006 by Berta

[sbrewer]

Berta,

Sorry for the confusion but "This shrink you mentioned sounds very biased against vets- "

The shrink he sees is a Psychologist, the MD I referred to is actually his primary care dr at the VA.

She seems to think she is MORE than a primary care dr. example...she thinks she can be his shrink,

as well as his cardiologist. She finally sent him to the "shrink" and he has an outside cardiologist.

He too works at the VA...Also his primary care dr. is the one who does not want to write him a note

that his toe would bend before she sent him to the podiatrist, who did the surgery, and now the toe

will not bend and he still has the pain he had before the surgery.

Do you know what happened to the other post from dancanmt?

sbrewer

[Berta]

I was confused too-

you stated:

"She also told him to put in a claim for heart disease as depression caused it."

This is evidence of secondary service connection-but only if the doctor had a complete rationale for it, by experience.

Depends on how the VA will view that statement and the doctor's expertise.

[Alex]

Not true, Sbrwer --

VA doesn't rate mntal diseases as mild, moderate or severe but by diagnostic criteria descikptive of symptoms and how they affect your life. E.g.,

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: 100%

gross impairment in thought processes or communication; persistent

delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior;

persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability

to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of

minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory

loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name

Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, 70%

such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood,

due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals

which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical,

obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression

affecting

the ability to function independently, appropriately and

effectively;

impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with

periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal

appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful

circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to

establish and maintain effective relationships

Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and 50%

productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect;

circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks

more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands;

impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only

highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired

judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and

mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and

social relationships

Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work 30%

efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform

occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily,

with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to

such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic

attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild

memory

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms 10%

which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational

tasks only during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms

controlled by continuous medication

And Major Depression is a recognized disorder in DSM IV, which is the handbook for people who handl mental disorder cases.

Alex

[sbrewer]

Thanks again Berta for the information.

Alex,

Someone else had told me also that they did not go by the mild, moderate, etc., however,

how many of the symptoms in a category do you have to have to fall into that particular catagory.

Example....if you had flattened affect, would this put you in the 50% cat. or if you had tried to

commit suicide, would that automoatically put you in the 70% cat? Or do you need all of the

listings in each category?

Thanks,

sbrewer