Many people think of mental health disorders as isolated conditions. When we hear someone say, “I have depression,” or “My husband has
anxiety” it leads us to think that there’s a specific solution for each of these problems that would help people feel better. But it’s not quite that simple.
For instance, if someone had only
depression, you might think antidepressants would be the simple solution to reduce symptoms and boost their mood and energy. But more than half of depressed patients don’t get the relief they want from taking
antidepressants, according to a large study. Similarly, if someone has
ADD/ADHD, you might think that prescription stimulants are the easy answer to their issues. But they often aren’t. Why are the standard treatment models ineffective for so many people?
Increasingly, physicians and other clinicians recognize that most patients with psychiatric conditions have
complex conditions that don’t fit into the tidy categorical boxes described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders (DSM)—and for a good reason. Many people with mental health issues have an array of symptoms that can occur in a variety of disorders and confound the diagnostic process.
Here’s an example of the same symptoms which can be seen in different mental health issues:
|
Depression |
Anxiety |
ADHD |
Bipolar Disorder |
TBI |
| Irritability |
x |
x |
|
x |
x |
| Insomnia |
x |
x |
|
x |
x |
| Poor concentration |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Impulsivity |
|
|
x |
x |
x |
| Restlessness |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Behavioral problems |
|
x |
x |
x |
Having More Than One Psychiatric Diagnosis is Common
While there are other symptoms that cross diagnostic categories too, recognizing that most mental health problems are not single or simple disorders is helpful in understanding why so many people struggle to get adequate relief of their symptoms.
A 2019
research study published in the journal,
JAMA Psychiatry, reviewed the mental health history data of more than 5 million people and found that having one mental health disorder increased the risk of having another. This means that comorbidity (having two or more conditions) may actually be more common than having just one.
This means it’s common for people to have multiple conditions at the same time, such as depression
and anxiety, ADD/ADHD
and depression,
panic disorder and bipolar disorder,
addiction and anxiety or depression,
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD),
and an
eating disorder, and so on. Having multiple psychiatric disorders is referred to as dual diagnosis, co-occurring conditions, or co-existing disorders. Treating only one of the conditions will never be adequate. All of the issues need to be treated in order to get well.
While it is still not yet known why mental health problems are more complex than originally believed, there are likely some genetic influences and environmental experiences that make some people more vulnerable to them.
Mental Health Disorders Have Multiple Causes
However,
what we do know, is that a person’s mental health is directly linked to what’s going on in their brain. During the past 30 years, many people have sought treatment at Amen Clinics after they’ve had several failed attempts to feel better elsewhere. This is largely because of traditional psychiatry’s reliance on the limited DSM symptom-cluster approach to diagnosing their patients. Plus, most psychiatrists don’t use advanced imaging technology, such as SPECT (single-photon-emission-computed-tomography) to actually look at their patients’ brains to assess for the biological underpinnings of their symptoms.
Consequently, many people are misdiagnosed and/or inadequately treated because underlying brain problems are missed altogether. Using the example of depression again, to accurately treat a patient, it’s necessary to identify what could be driving a person’s symptoms, since there are several potential causes, including these:
Because of this, what works well for one person isn’t necessarily going to work for someone else. There is not a one-size-fits-all treatment for depression—nor for any other psychiatric disorder—because of the complexities that come with each condition as well as the uniqueness of each person’s brain.
A Game-Changing Discovery
Another discovery that helps to explain the problems with treatment response also comes from the extensive
brain SPECT imaging work done at Amen Clinics, which now has a database of more than 183,000 patient scans. One of the most important findings is that some of the more common mental health conditions have several identifiable subtypes, which are based on specific brain patterns.
The doctors and researchers at Amen Clinics have identified:
What makes this work so important is that each of the disorders and their subtypes has different characteristics, which require individualized treatment plans that take into consideration a patient’s symptoms as well as their brain biology and clinical history. Without having SPECT scans as an adjunct tool, it would be much more difficult to accurately diagnose and treat patients.
As Dr. Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics, has said, “How do you know unless you look?”
By having incorporated such a comprehensive evaluation process for each patient—including the valuable information from the scans—the doctors at Amen Clinics have successfully helped tens of thousands of people finally find relief from symptoms of multiple conditions, so they can live more fulfilling and healthy lives.
Complex mental health problems can’t wait. During this ongoing time of uncertainty, your mental well-being is more important than ever.
At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
