What are your thoughts about this new blood test to diagnose depression?

I would be concerned that it couldn’t differentiate between a situational depressive phase (eg basic grief or sadness that can both be temporary) and a serious, on going, maybe biochemical imbalance that requires medication.
And, of course, the ramifications of insurance and employment issues, as you mentioned.
That said, I tend to think that more sophisticated diagnostic tools, especially for mental illnesses are a good thing.

That is really cool. The amount of serotonin in ones body contributes to people’s overall well being. Their physical health as well as mental.

I can only see this kind of testing done by employers when they have a surplus of candidates in that specific field to choose from.

Health insurance companies could use this to raise a persons rates or could have in the past at the very least. The studies are beginning to show that prolonged bouts of lowered serotonin levels can contribute or trigger autoimmune diseases.

The unfortunate part about this is there are very few ways to boost serotonin levels as SSRIs actually long term cause more harm then good. 5HTP supplements and amino acids are the best we have to offer other then behavioral changes. Over all while the tools to diagnose the problem do not seem to currently match our ability to treat them. http://www.ihealthtube.com/aspx/article.aspx?id=3206

@canidmajor makes a very valid point in regard to prolonged v natural and temporary changes as well.

@canidmajor You bring up a good point. What if the proverbial country western trifecta occurs: “mah truck broke, mah dog died, and all mah lover left me was alone” ? Surely that can trigger temporary and justifiable depression – Heck just listening to CW music can do it! Can’t wait to see the study for that one.

@Unbroken I have faith in science. Once they figure out how to measure it, manipulation cannot be far behind.

@LuckyGuy you then play the song in reverse, you get your lover, truck and dog back.

I think that this may have potential, the rewards likely outweigh the benefits greatly. We are only a few years away from knowing just about everything about someone from a piss/blood test anyway.

@LuckyGuy “I was drunk the day my Ma got out of prison…”

Another tool that will help in the diagnosis and treatment of a disorder that affects everyone at some point in their lives.

@filmfann…...Ahhhh, the perfect country western song.

Yep, I agree with @canidmajor

Big. difference between biochemical imbalance in the brain and situational bouts of depression. Situational depression is a normal response to extreme loss, change, or grief, a far cry from chemical related depression issues.
Quite frankly, I think depression is our friend, it is TELLING us we need to make changes, more often than not. Many people are far too quick to jump on the medication wagon instead of listening to what is really going on within them.

If you’re depressed because you are in a bad relationship, job, well…you don;t need drugs, you need to honor your mind and bodies message that it is time for shift to happen.

@Coloma In principle that works for short term depression but the problem with long term depression is that it causes chemical and physiological changes in the brain that are not so easily reversed. So the depression remains even when the problems that caused it are gone. In my case my depression was caused by events in my childhood but it persisted for another twenty years after those events were over.

@downtide Yes, I have heard that too, but still think taking the Prozac nation approach is overkill a lot of the time. :-)

I wonder if the lawyers at Shyster and Shyster , specializing in Soc Sec disability claims since 1998, will start using the blood test as proof.

It could tremendous value with this test to help Doctors diagnose depression in kids. Kids can be poor communicators of feelings and emotions and also behaviors that kids exhibit could be misinterpreted where this blood test could help narrow the field for a quicker and more accurate diagnosis of what is going on with the child.

Thanks @Unbroken for the link to this site. I suffer from lifelong depression and have been prescribed a number of antidepressants (starting with Prozac, which from the book “Prozac” and the media’s promotion of this drug had led me to hope for relief) with little or no, and sometimes negative, results.

@Unbroken @Bill1939 I went to that site and Livestrong and they were in agreement.
Both talk about seratonin and its production. They both mention the importance of amino acids, particularly tryptophan and how it comes from our diet and how it is used to make seratonin.
From Livestrong:.
“Foods that contain protein tend to have tryptophan. In addition to eggs, cheese, chicken, eggs, fish, milk and nuts all have tryptophan. If you are a vegetarian, sources like peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soybeans and tofu also contain tryptophan. Eggs have about 210 mg of tryptophan per 3.5 oz. serving. [That is about 2 large eggs -LG.] This is comparable to a similar serving size of red kidney beans, which have 215 mg per serving and peanuts, which have 340 mg per serving. Meats like chicken and beef tend to have 160 to 260 mg per 3.5 oz. serving, which is about the size of a deck of cards.”
The site your referenced mentions supplements of 500mg of l-tryptophen as being helpful. It seems anyone can get the same amount by eating 2 eggs and a 100gm (deck of cards size) serving of meat or tofu or beans or the items listed above.

When an overweight person decides to lose weight they cut back their food intake and (should) exercise more. I wonder if dieters get depressed because they cut back on their tryptophen intake as well and that makes their seratonin level go down.

(Surely there must be scores of studies on this.)

@LuckyGuy Well, when i went vegan this winter i sure as hell did. It’s happened to me several times. I tend to get down in the winter anyway but add dieting to that and it made it much worse. I can recall that both times i tried being vegan i got depressed. Sunlight and better diet got me back to normal in about a month.

@ARE_you_kidding_me: I wonder if your body was low on protein.

@jca It most certainly was.

@ARE_you_kidding_me That is interesting and seems to agree with the article. When you went vegan did you try to boost protein intake like adding peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soybeans, kidney beans and tofu? They all contain tryptophan.
Did you ever take a supplement? I don’t like to take supplements. Since I am not dieting (and an omnivore) I prefer to get my nutrients from food. It might be worth the experiment.

I took no supplements and I did eat beans and rice everyday. I made a lot of vegan chilli. I ate almonds and pistachios almost daily as well. I avoided tofu and my biggest vice was garlic bread. (no butter of course) Peanut butter sandwiches were common snacks. It just does not work for me for whatever reason.