Suffering from two or more illnesses at one time. Commonly observed in psychology, because of the mind’s highly complex nature.

Discussion

The standard model of psychiatry says that all psychological problems can be put into discrete diagnostic boxes based on the “symptoms” a person displays. According to this system, all “disorders” like Major Depression or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder have symptom profiles that are unique, and should have no overlap at all.

The problem is that real psychological experience simply can’t be boxed up this way. The result is that many “disorders” share multiple symptoms, and so patients often end up with multiple, “co-morbid” diagnoses.

“Comorbidity is rampant. Patients routinely meet criteria for multiple disorders at once, far more than expected by chance…” Psychiatry at the Margins

A deeper problem emerges: treatment. When these co-morbid diagnoses are given to patients, they are often accompanied by a prescription for a cocktail of drugs, all with complex interactions and possible unpleasant side effects. In these cases, the old adage often rings true: the treatment is worse than the disease.

My personal view of co-morbidity in psychology and psychiatry is that it is a problem with the model, not the suffering person. When you have real experience working with real people, “co-morbidity” is natural and expected. Emotions are complicated, minds are multifaceted, and brains are complex beyond comprehension…

The apparent contradiction between OCD and Depression is created by the poorly-concieved definitions, and is not present in the suffering person themselves. This is obvious because the obsessive person you’re talking to will tell you they’re depressed because they can’t seem to get a handle on their OCD. So, clearly, it is not only possible to be both obsessed and depressed at the same time, but it makes sense that you would be!