Summary: A new study finds that misleading information about depression is widespread, making it harder for sufferers to understand the causes of their distress. The study criticizes the circular reasoning used in psychiatric diagnoses, pointing out that depression is often misrepresented as a disorder causing symptoms rather than a description of them.
This misrepresentation is perpetuated by major health organizations. Researchers are calling for clearer communication to help people better understand their mental health.
Highlights:
- Psychiatric diagnoses like depression are descriptive, not causal.
- Major health organizations often present depression as a causal disorder.
- Clear communication about mental health issues can improve understanding.
Source: University of Turku
A recent Finnish study shows that people often receive incorrect information about depression. According to researchers, this inaccurate information prevents people from understanding the causes of their distress.
Most psychiatric diagnoses are purely descriptive. For example, a diagnosis of depression is only a description of the various psychological symptoms – not the cause. Yet depression is often described as a disorder that causes low mood and other symptoms.
Researchers describe this phenomenon as a form of circular reasoning, meaning that psychiatric diagnoses are often discussed in a circular manner, as if describing the causes of symptoms. This makes it difficult for people with the condition to understand their distress.
“Depression should be considered a diagnosis similar to a headache. Both are medical diagnoses, but neither explains what causes the symptoms. Like a headache, depression is a description of a problem that can have many different causes.
“A diagnosis of depression does not explain the cause of a depressed mood any more than a diagnosis of headache explains the cause of head pain,” says Jani Kajanoja, a postdoctoral researcher and physician specializing in psychiatry. at the University of Turku. Finland.
This misconception is also perpetuated by mental health professionals, as shown in a recent study from the University of Turku and the Helsinki University of the Arts.
In this study, the researchers analyzed publicly available information about depression provided by major international health organizations. They selected the websites of English-speaking organizations whose information about depression was most influential according to search engine results.
These organizations included the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), and Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities.
Most organizations presented depression on their websites as a disorder that causes symptoms and/or explains the cause of the symptoms, although this is not the case. None of the organizations presented the diagnosis as a pure description of the symptoms, as would have been accurate.
“Presenting depression as a uniform disorder that causes depressive symptoms is circular reasoning that confuses our understanding of the nature of mental health problems and makes it harder for people to understand their distress,” says Kajanoja.
Researchers suggest the problem could be caused by cognitive bias.
“People seem to have a tendency to think that a diagnosis is an explanation even if it isn’t. It is important that professionals do not reinforce this misconception in their communication, but rather help people understand their condition,” explains professor and neuropsychologist Jussi Valtonen from the Helsinki University of the Arts.
About this depression research news
Author: Tuomas Koivula
Source: University of Turku
Contact: Tuomas Koivula – University of Turku
Picture: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Free access.
“A Descriptive Diagnosis or a Causal Explanation? Accuracy of Depression Representations on Authoritative Health Organization Websites” by Jani Kajanoja et al. Psychopathology
Abstract
A Descriptive Diagnosis or a Causal Explanation? Accuracy of Depression Representations on Authoritative Health Organization Websites
Introduction: Psychiatric diagnoses are descriptive in nature, but the general public generally misunderstands them as causal explanations. It is unclear whether this logical fallacy, a form of circular reasoning, can sometimes be erroneously reinforced by health authorities themselves.
In this study, we examined the prevalence of misleading causal descriptions of depression in information provided by authoritative mental health organizations on widely accessed websites.
Methods : We searched popular websites run by leading mental health organizations and conducted a content analysis to assess whether they accurately presented depression as a description of symptoms or inaccurately as a causal explanation.
Results: Most websites used language that inaccurately described depression as a causal explanation for depressive symptoms.
Conclusion: Major professional medical and psychiatric organizations often confuse depression, a descriptive diagnosis, with a causal explanation on their most visited information sites. We argue that scientifically inaccurate causal language in descriptions of psychiatric diagnoses is potentially dangerous because it leads the public to misunderstand the nature of mental health problems.
Mental health authorities providing psychoeducation should make it clear that psychiatric diagnoses are purely descriptive to avoid misleading the public.