Psychiatrist Admits GPs Prescribe Antidepressants Within Minutes Without Investigating Physical Causes

What was said

"If you go to your primary care physician and you say, 'I'm feeling low, I'm gloomy about the future, I'm not sleeping very well,' and the other symptoms of depression, within a few minutes they will have prescribed an antidepressant and/or a course of cognitive behavioral therapy, and you'll be out the door and back on the street, as it were. What doesn't happen very often is people taking a moment to think, okay, so you've got these depressive symptoms. Are there relevant inflammatory or other physical problems that we should be thinking about?"

Bullmore criticizes current psychiatric practice where primary care doctors prescribe antidepressants within minutes of consultation without screening for inflammation or investigating physical root causes. He argues this one-size-fits-all approach treats symptoms rather than underlying causes, missing the fact that many cases have a significant inflammatory component that could be addressed through different interventions.