Organic basis

The psychiatrist today talked about how he feels it's important to do a dexamethasone suppression test on patients with depression because if it comes back as abnormal, patients feel better about having an organic evidence of their disease.

How does it matter?

The tutor likened PMS to mini depressive episodes. I thought about that. I have distinct mood changes before my periods (sometimes, not always), but I can have PMS-like mood at any time. So if I feel emotionally unwell, and on retrospect realise it's due to "hormone changes", should I feel better knowing that there is an organic basis for my mental instability?

One of his slides had this amusing Pyschiatric Hotline joke, of which you can find various versions online:

Welcome to the Psychiatric Hotline.
If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly.
If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2.
If you have multiple personalities, please press 3, 4, 5, and 6.
If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay on the line so we can trace the call.
If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.
If you are depressed, it doesn't matter which number you press. No one will answer.
If you are delusional and occasionally hallucinate, please be aware that the thing you are holding on the side of your head is alive and about to bite off your ear.

2 comments:

Ziph said...

That's kinda funny.

But isn't the whole idea of finding organic causes that the organic causes are easier to treat and require different treatment?
I don't see why it should make the patient feel any better. (Unless, they feel more reassured that their disease is more easily treated)

bitingtravels said...

yeah that's true about being more easily treated.

but I think he meant that people are relieved with an abnormal blood test that demonstrates how their illness is "real" rather than a weakness of their character

 

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