"If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck."  Or so the saying goes.

With symptoms of depression, it is not quite so clear.

Years ago, I had a client in my office who had been working to resolve her depression for years.  Medicine after medicine, doctor after doctor, therapist after therapist, all tried to resolve her depression.

There was little to no improvement.  In fact, it just seemed to be getting worse.

I asked a simple question:  "Have you had your bloodwork done?"

I sent her back to her doctor, and had her request one specific blood test.   My guess was right.  Her thyroid was not working correctly.  Many mental health professionals were so fixated on her depression that they missed the fact that it was an easily treated medical condition.

In this week's podcast, I cover 8 other issues, medical and psychological, that look like depression -- but are not depression and do not need to be treated like depression.

Here is why this is important:  before you treat "depression," you want to make sure it is depression.  Medicine and psychotherapy do no good, if you are aiming at the wrong target.

Listen in as I discuss some "look alikes" that appear to be depression, but are not.

Other Podcasts in the Dealing With Depression Series:

Truths and Myths About DepressionWhat IS Depression?