MARSHALL COUNTY, W.Va. (WTRF) Depression is more than just feeling sad and lying on the couch.
Nurse Practitioner Kayla Eberhart with WVU Reynolds Outpatient Psychiatry in Glen Dale says friends and relatives tell the depressed person to “snap out of it, and stop being so sad.”
She says some people will tell them their problems are not that bad, and that other people are far worse off but they don’t seem to let it get them down.
Eberhart says depression isn’t just sadness.
It can also involve irritability, apathy or distractibility.
She says it doesn’t help when the depressed person’s loved ones characterize them as just being lazy or dramatic.
She says when the depressed person is judged and misunderstood, it leads them to feel embarrassed and unwilling to seek help.
She say WVU Reynolds Outpatient Psychiatry offers genetic testing that involves a quick cheek swab.
It can show how the patient’s genetic makeup will react to specific medication.
It shows which medications will be more or less likely to work.
Before the testing, depression patients everywhere often found their medications either didn’t work or had unpleasant side effects.
She says genetic testing can lead to much better outcomes.