Brother with depression

I have a brother who was diagnose with depression. He was given a number of medications which were making him sick. He ended up in the emergency room Thursday night. They discovered he had a tumor in his brain which was responsible for his symptoms. Not sure how doctors go about treating depression but I would think one of the first things they would do is an MRI to see if there is anything wrong with the brain. Depression is a problem of the brain. Shouldn't there be a picture of your brain if you have depression? Fortunately the tumor was removed and he is in intensive care. Praying for a full recovery but early detection of the problem would have been better.

I am sorry to hear about your brother, and hope he heals safely and soon. It is good they caught it.

However, I am concerned about your characterization of depression as a disease of the brain, with brain scans being standard. There are likely far more people diagnosed with depression than there are with a brain tumor. Depression can indeed be caused by chemical and neurological reasons. But it can just as often, and likely more often, be environmental or situational. A person with schizophrenia (brain) is going to present symptoms and be treated far differently than a person with PTSD,or anxiety, or even chronic depression.

I guess extenuating circumstances and symptoms that your brother presented with sent his physicians down a different and incorrect path. That indeed is unfortunate, and I am thankful his illness was caught. However, a sudden change in behavior and thought processes will, more often, be a mental illness rather than a tumor.

My point is that brain scans in the diagnosis of depression is pretty out there medically. Since depression cannot be diagnosed by a brain scan, as it does not show up in scans, it does not make sense to lobby for them as SOP. Depression is far more commonly diagnosed than is a brain tumor. Most doctors start conservatively in developing treatment plans. Seriously, it makes no medical sense. Since the symptoms are the same, depression is the first logical diagnosis.

According to the census, the United States population on July 4, 2015 was: 321,216,397 .

An estimated 68,470 new cases of primary malignant and non-malignant brain and CNS tumors are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2015. (http://www.cbtrus.org/factsheet/factsheet.html)

This is .02% of the American population.

In 2013, an estimated 15.7 million adults aged 18 or older in the U.S. had at least one major depressive episode in the past year. (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/major-depression-among-adults.shtml)

That's a 4.89% of the American population.

Major depressive disorder affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older, in a given year. (Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun; 62(6): 617-27)

I am not trying to be unsympathetic. I am so glad that your brother's illness was found in time,and hope that he recovers fully! But, statistically, the diagnosis was more likely to be depression than a tumor. 5.00% of the US population versus .02% is huge.

We would all love if doctors could figure it out the first time, but that is an impossible and unrealistic expectation. Not even the best doctors can do this, since symptoms and test results can sometimes be vague, contradictory, and are complex to interpret. What matters in the long run is that the patient is helped, in the end.

I would also add your brother would have had brain surgery, regardless. It is not a mistake of the doctor--it is an unavoidable failing of medicine. Some diagnoses are easy-others are not. Let it comfort you that 50 years ago, nothing could have been reasonably done to save your brother's life.

My best to him and your family as he battles back.

Post Edited (Myself 09) : 11/14/2015 7:34:48 PM (GMT-7)

I hope your bro is doing ok.

depression: the black dog. situational, trauma based, abuse based, chemical based, seasonal based, loss based (all forms of loss) memory based (geriatrics) and for no reason at all you can become depressed. lots of causal and sub casual and brain chemistry factors as well. dopemamine and serotonin and noradrenaline factors, other secondary co-morbidities, and major morbidities. pain, emotional and physical..........the list goes on and on. in Australia a simple k10 test best aides the doc on where the person is at.

I hope your daughter is doing OK. I am a brother. Was your daughter diagnosed with depression? My brother had conditions that showed it could be more than depression. He had tremors and think that should have been a sign an MRI was required. My thoughts are depression is a problem with the brain and why would doctors not want to get a picture of the brain to rule out things like tumors? The comment was made tumors are not a big problem in depression so why get the MRI. If you are the one with the tumor it is a big problem. I don't understand the logic in not checking out everything before making a diagnoses.

Post Edited (eat2bwell) : 11/22/2015 7:13:56 AM (GMT-7)

He is out of ICU and in recovery. My brother is 66 years old but very strong which is what saved his life. He had a tumor which was 3 and half centimeters the biggest they had ever seen. It had pushed his brain to one side of the skull. Now the brain has to move back to the proper place. He is recovering and praying for the best. Hope your daughter can get off the medication soon. Lots of side effects to drugs.