San Clemente, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/15/2016 --Sovereign Health, a leading national provider of behavioral health treatment services, is pleased to announce the launch of a new article that's now live on www.psychologytoday.com: "4 Disorders That Resemble, But Aren't, Depression." This article, written and edited by Ralph Ryback, M.D., Courtney Lopresti, M.S., and Susan Logan-McCracken, M.P.W., shares four conditions that are commonly mistaken for depression, both by clinicians and the public.
As this editorial notes, mental illness is sometimes difficult to diagnose because it's diagnosed through checklists of self-reported symptoms. For this reason, mental illnesses including depression are sometimes misdiagnosed. According to a 2012 article in Current Psychiatry, 26 to 45 percent of patients referred for "depression" did not meet diagnostic criteria for a depressive illness. A 2009 meta-analysis discovered that general practitioners can only correctly identify depression in patients in 47.3 percent of cases and that many doctors diagnose depression in people who don't have it.
"As prevalent as depression is, it also shares symptoms with several other mental health disorders," said Rachael Mattice, managing editor for Sovereign Health. "The repercussions of misdiagnosis can range from mild to severe, which is why it's important to accurately inform readers of the common imitators and to encourage them to discuss evidence-based testing with their physicians."
Bipolar disorder, hypothyroidism, diabetes and chronic fatigue syndrome are conditions that are commonly confused with depression. Though a misdiagnosis is always possible, depression is real. The illness affects millions of people each year.
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About the Authors
Ralph Ryback, M.D., has taught at many institutions, including Harvard Medical School. He's also a psychiatrist with Sovereign Health. Receiving his M.D. from Wayne State School of Medicine and completing his residency at Boston City Hospital, Dr. Ryback brings over half a century of psychiatric experience to Sovereign Health. To read Dr. Ryback's full biography, click HERE.
Courtney Lopresti, M.S., is a senior staff writer for Sovereign Health, where she uses her scientific background to write online blogs and articles for a general audience. At the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned her master's degree in neuroscience, she used functional neuroimaging to study how the human cerebellum contributes to language processing. In her spare time, she writes fiction, reads Oliver Sacks, and spends time with her two cats and bird. Courtney is currently located in Minneapolis.
Susan Logan-McCracken, M.P.W. (Master's of Professional Writing), is an editor for Sovereign Health and an award-winning author. Logan-McCracken has 25 years of experience as a journalist, most recently as the editor of Cat Fancy magazine. She received her master's in professional writing from the University of Southern California, where she became obsessed with accuracy, fair reporting, and correct English usage.
Rachael Mattice is the managing editor for Sovereign Health, leading a team of diversified managers, team leaders, writers and editors in the U.S. and India digital newsroom. Also a freelance music journalist, she pulls from her versatile background in journalism, digital marketing and visual content creation to boost innovative ideas and high-quality assets for the Sovereign Health brand.
About Sovereign Health
Sovereign Health's mission is to provide a broad spectrum of high-quality behavioral health treatment services for adults and adolescents, including support services for family members. One factor that differentiates Sovereign from other treatment providers has been the company's ability to offer separate mental health and addiction or dual diagnosis treatment programs at its facilities.
For more information, visit www.sovhealth.com.
Media Contact:
Wendy Allen, Public Relations Manager: 866-948-9688