Therapy for anxiety Therapy for anxiety
Related Articles
Prior to any psychotherapeutic work with depressed patients it is essential that the patient have a complete and thorough medical examination because the affective state of depression can quite often be the result of some hormonal or other organic dysfunction.
When one is not feeling well physically, there is a greater tendency for dysphoric states to also be present.
I had one such case referred to me by a physician after a rather cursory medical examination. Apparently he felt certain that the patient’s depression was psychogenic in nature due to the fact that her depressed affect seemed to be cyclical.
After a few sessions with her she one time casually mentioned something about having frequent colds especially during the time of year in which she also seemed to get depressed. This corresponded with the time of year when the pollen count was highest.
The possibility of some allergic condition made me refer her back to her physician even though she insisted that she had never been diagnosed as having such a problem although she did remember always having frequent “colds.” The physician subsequently diagnosed her as being allergic to a wide variety of substances.
Apparently what was happening was that the allergic condition was clogging her breathing apparatus making it difficult for her to ingest sufficient oxygen. This tended to make her feel very tired and listless making it very difficult for her to do her chores around the house.
This produced selfdepreciatory attitudes which were further aggravated by her husband’s criticism of her for not being able to handle her household chores. Relatively soon after the treatment for her allergies was initiated her depression lifted and did not return.
She has now passed two seasons during which she had previously developed a depression and has not, as yet, experienced any such episodes.
It should be made clear, however, that although metabolic complications are often implicated in the etiology of depressions, psychotherapy can still be valuable in dealing with its psychological effects.
