Goal

The goal of Session 5 is to convey to our patients the idea that depression is a medical illness, moving away from pejorative social considerations or popular meanings associated with the term that lead one to believe that depression is caused by a person's surroundings and that it can be resolved by the person him or herself, without needing to consult a professional or receive treatment. Therefore, we will impart just the opposite message: depression is an illness or – the point in case – part of an illness that has clearly defined biological causes and generally requires pharmacological treatment. We will again insist on the need to differentiate normal emotions from pathological ones.

Procedure

• To begin the session, after we have greeted group members, we go around the room and have patients ask questions about the last session.

• It is a good idea to start the session by reading some news articles (from recent newspapers or magazines) that improperly use the word “depression, ” something that unfortunately is not uncommon. There are plenty of headlines in the press like “Manchester United Goes Through November Depression: Five Defeats Straight” or “Katia, Very Depressed After Being Eliminated From Big Brother. ” We will invite the patients to give their opinion about the use of the unspecialized press makes of psychiatric terms, particularly the word “depression. ”This will give us a way to introduce the medical concept of depression, in terms that it is a biological illness and does not necessarily require triggering factors for it to appear.

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