# Is there an opposite to depression? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425 "2003-06-26T01:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/21 "2003-06-26T15:31:19Z")
The opposite of decline is incline. Clearly, the opposite of depression is inpression. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/22 "2003-06-26T16:07:02Z")
I believe there was one case written up in an Oliver Sacks book where an older woman became really really happy, to the point that her friends asked her to get it checked out. It turns out that she had an advanced case of syphilus that was beginning attack her brain. The good news is that they could stop the syphilus pretty easily, but the bad (well…also good) new is that the damage to her brain that was making her so happy was permanent. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/23 "2003-06-26T16:42:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by doctordoowop \* > \*\*alice-no, Axis I. All of the usual signs & symptoms of major depression, just not as disabling. Except dysthymic disorder never has psychotic symptoms. Axis II is for personality disorders ,maladtive personality features, & mental retardation,only. Any of the mood disorders goes on Axis I. \*\* So it’s exactly as I described it, only they changed the name? Your first post wasn’t very clear to me. (That is, a more mild form of depression?) Regarding a cite for the 67%… From [here](http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter4/sec3_2.html) > [@](#): > > Antidepressant medications are effective across the full range of severity of major depressive episodes in major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 1993; Depression Guideline Panel, 1993; Frank et al., 1993). The degree of effectiveness, however, varies according to the intensity of the depressive episode. With mild depressive episodes, the overall response rate is about 70 percent… and > [@](#): > > Psychotherapy and Counseling > Many people prefer psychotherapy or counseling over medication for treatment of depression (Roper, 1986; Seligman, 1995). Research conducted in the past two decades has helped to establish at least several newer forms of time-limited psychotherapy as being as effective as antidepressant pharmacotherapy in mild-to-moderate depressions (DiMascio et al., 1979; Elkin et al., 1989; Hollon et al., 1992; Depression Guideline Panel, 1993; Thase, 1995; Persons et al., 1996). The newer depression-specific therapies include cognitive-behavioral therapy (Beck et al., 1979) and interpersonal psychotherapy (Klerman et al., 1984). These approaches use a time-limited approach, a present tense (“here-and-now”) focus, and emphasize patient education and active collaboration. Interpersonal psychotherapy centers around four common problem areas: role disputes, role transitions, unresolved grief, and social deficits. Cognitive-behavioral therapy takes a more structured approach by emphasizing the interactive nature of thoughts, emotions, and behavior. It also helps the depressed patient to learn how to improve coping and lessen symptom distress. > > There is no evidence that cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy are differentially effective (Elkin et al., 1989; Thase, 1995). As reported earlier, both therapies appear to have some relapse prevention effects, although they are much less studied than the pharmacotherapies. Other more traditional forms of counseling and psychotherapy have not been extensively studied using a randomized clinical trial design (Depression Guideline Panel, 1993). It is important to determine if these more traditional treatments, as commonly practiced, are as effective as interpersonal psychotherapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy. > > The brevity of this section reflects the succinctness of the findings on the effectiveness of these interventions as well as the lack of differential responses and“side effects.” It does not reflect a preference or superiority of medication except in conditions such as psychotic depression where psychotherapies are not effective. I should have been more specific - the efficacy for both treatments is around 67% for patients with mild to moderate depression. Those with severe depression are much more difficult to treat and thus efficacy rates are lower. I do have a recent text book at home that says these numbers specifically, however it’s home and I’m not so I’ll have a hard time citing it right now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/24 "2003-06-26T17:25:58Z")
“We had to put Uncle Harry in a home. He was…more than happy.” --George Carlin ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/25 "2003-06-26T18:10:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*Naguib Mahfouz wrote a short story about a man who woke up one morning and realized he was happy. He stayed happy all through the day. He wondered if this was cause for concern. He went to the doctor to get it checked. The doctor told him there was no known cure for his condition, but with proper treatment it might eventually be brought under control. > > This story was a brilliant piece of deadpan satire.😃 \*\* Can you remember the name of this book? it sounds great! ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/26 "2003-06-26T18:18:03Z")
Manic/depressive symptoms are common among people with bipolar disorder. Many patients choose to NOT take their meds. in order to experience the “high” knowing full well the severity of the depression that is to follow. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/27 "2003-06-26T19:00:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by t-keela \* > \*\*Manic/depressive symptoms are common among people with bipolar disorder. Many patients choose to NOT take their meds. in order to experience the “high” knowing full well the severity of the depression that is to follow. \*\* It’s more like “Not gonna get depressed THIS time.” ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/28 "2003-06-26T20:43:39Z")
Since it is nearly impossible to do double-blind studies of behavioral therapy, it is not easy to make scientific statements about it. Here is one of many studies that show therapy to be less effective than medication (also known as pharmacotherapy [cite](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10937603&dopt=Abstract)): “This report compares response to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and pharmacotherapy…depressed men treated with pharmacotherapy had significantly greater improvements…and a significantly lower rate of nonresponse (i.e., 13% vs. 46%)” - Thase ME, et al, J Clin Psychiatry. 2000 In a study with double-blind controls, “Imipramine plus CBT is significantly more efficacious than placebo plus CBT in improving school attendance and decreasing symptoms of depression in school-refusing adolescents with comorbid anxiety and depression.” ([cite](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10714046&dopt=Abstract)). Furthermore, there is doubt about whether psychotherapy is effective for some kinds of depressive states ([cite](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10403142&dopt=Abstract)), “…there is not yet compelling evidence that melancholic patients respond to psychotherapy as well as they do to medications.” This is probably also true for some people in manic states. There are plenty of ideas about the physiology of mood that have nothing (or little) to do with serotonin. From the same study as above “The potentially mediating effects of hypercortisolism, alterations of sleep neurophysiology, and disturbances of information processing and regional cerebral metabolism represent fertile grounds for future investigation.” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/29 "2003-06-26T20:46:36Z")
Mahfuz, Najib. “The Happy Man.” In _In God’s World: An Anthology of Short Stories._ Translated by Akef Abadir and Roger Allen. Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1973, p. 19-29. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425/30 "2003-06-26T20:49:11Z")
P.S. Here is [an essay, “Human Happiness”](http://www.libarts.ucok.edu/english/world2/africa/electronic/human_happiness.htm), that discusses Naguib Mahfouz’s short story “The Happy Man.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-opposite-to-depression/184425.md?page=1)