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Analysis Too Much Medicine

Medicalising unhappiness: new classification of depression risks more patients being put on drug treatment from which they will not benefit

BMJ 2013; 347 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f7140 (Published 09 December 2013) Cite this as: BMJ 2013;347:f7140

Rapid Response:

Re: Medicalising unhappiness: new classification of depression risks more patients being put on drug treatment from which they will not benefit

We are wasting our breath on definitions and statistics. Please refer to discussions this last summer on HEALTH.

Put simply, the patient decides when he needs the help of his doctor. The doctor can, then decide in his wisdom whether to talk, talk and prescribe, talk and refer to " counsellor", psychotherapist, physician in psychological medicine, psychologist, the vicar, the social worker, or even another speciality doctor........

It is interesting that medical ethicists are staying silent in these debates.

Competing interests: So far not medicalised my own occasional unhappiness. Have prescribed,very rarely, mood-lifting medicines.

13 December 2013
JK Anand
Retired doctor
Free spirit
Peterborough