Jess, the short answer is yes (well, really, it was the doctor I was with who prescribed them; I'm not at a level yet to definitively make treatment choices.)

I have a vague sense of the nature of your strong feelings, so I comment in that direction in the long answer.

First let me say that I haven't done much reading about making treatment choices when dealing with depression -- either in terms of the ridiculous array of drugs available or in terms of counselling and psychological consultations. I cannot for myself speak to the correctness of this doctor's choice to prescribe an anti-depressant except to say that he's been in practice a long time and is often motivated by a "this has worked in my experience" idea.

That said, based on my interview with this patient, this wasn't simply a case of depressed mood with an unconsidered decision to seek pharmaceutical treatment. There was a functional impairment here (which is the criteria for the clinical diagnosis) and despite that, this patient attempted to tough it out for several months.

In any case, apart from doing some reading this weekend, my judgment of our course of action in this case will probably come in 2-3 weeks. While the doctor I was with wasn't my actual preceptor, I've asked him to let me see this patient when the follow-up visit is scheduled. Hopefully I'll have a better sense of my own feelings about the correct treatment choices then.

(And, as an aside, let me say that I didn't feel good merely because my patient had depression. A cold-hearted bastard, I hope, I am not. The good was that a patient was comfortable enough to open up to me with a difficult issue like this, that (I think) I handled the situation well enough -- I was worried about how I would react to this kind of situation, and that we would be able to help someone through something like this.)

Thanks for the pointed question, though. It definitely helps to reflect on these kinds of things, and to remember that what I see done still needs to be considered carefully.

okay... I'm totally confused...

I could've sworn my computer speakers were dead, but noooo... it's just a glitch in programs... arghh! or at least I hope it is... as much as I like watching movies with sound, I'd also like to listen to music on this thing... or thesis writing is going to be even MORE difficult.

That depends. Did you prescribe anti-depressants? (You don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I have pretty strong feelings on the matter.)

I'm not going to unduly tax my liver by taking tylenol after having a couple beer today, am I? 'cause it's too late to un-do my tylenol-taking, or the beer for that matter...

but my head effing kills, and it's not booze-related...

Is it irony when you feel good about diagnosing a patient's depression?

I didn't know Pavarotti was dead either, until I saw the little icon in the google logo.

you didn't know?
it was all over the internet.
and I don't pay attention to entertainment news.



Is that MAK picture computer generated or real? It's so hard to tell.
as it is with these

Hey, I saw those solar trees on engadget a week ago or so.

Also, Pavarotti's been dead for the last few days? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME!??

UNSC slams Myanmar:

'The issue of Myanmar is really up to the government of Myanmar and the people of Myanmar to resolve the issue. We wish them good luck,'' said Liu Zhenmin, China's deputy UN Ambassador.