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Self-Rating
Scale for Depression
Getting
proper help for depression begins with proper diagnosis. Of
the 17 million people who suffer from depressive illnesses,
over two thirds (about 12 million) receive no treatment whatsoever.
The minority who do seek help typically consult a number of
doctors over many years before the proper diagnosis is made.
The questionnaire that follows may help you to determine if
you suffer from depression.
Have
either of the following symptoms been present nearly every
day for at least two weeks?
A. Have you been
sad, blue, or "down in the dumps?"
B. Have
you lost interest or pleasure in all or almost all the things you
usually do (work, hobbies, interpersonal
relationships)?
If
either A or B is true, continue. If not, you probably do not
have a depressive illness. Now continue by answering
the following statements.
Have any of the
following symptoms been present nearly every day for at least
two weeks?
| 1. |
A poor appetite or overeating? |
No |
Yes |
| 2. |
Insomnia-trouble falling asleep, or nighttime awakenings? |
No |
Yes |
| 3. |
Oversleeping
(going to bed a lot earlier than usual, staying in
bed later than usual, taking long naps)? |
No |
Yes |
| 4. |
Do you have low energy, chronic fatigue or do you feel
slowed down? |
No |
Yes |
| 5. |
Are you less active or talkative than usual? |
No |
Yes |
| 6. |
Do you feel restless or agitated? |
No |
Yes |
| 7. |
Do you avoid the company of other people more
than you used to? |
No |
Yes |
| 8. |
Have you lost interest or enjoyment in pleasurable activities,
including sex? |
No |
Yes |
| 9. |
Do
you fail to experience pleasure when positive things occur
- such as being praised, being given presents, etc.? |
No |
Yes |
| 10. |
Do you have feelings of inadequacy or decreased feelings
of self-esteem, or are you overly or increasingly self-critical? |
No |
Yes |
| 11. |
Are you less efficient or do you accomplish less at school,
work or home? |
No |
Yes |
| 12. |
Do you feel less able to cope with the routine responsibilities of
daily life? |
No |
Yes |
| 13. |
Do you find that your concentration is poor and that you
have difficulty making decisions (even trivial ones)? |
No |
Yes |
| 14. |
Do you think and/or talk of death and suicide? |
No |
Yes |
| 15. |
Have
you at any time in the past been acting unusually happy for
more than two weeks? |
No |
Yes |
If
A or B is true and if you answered yes to five or more of
the above questions, you may have a major depressive illness.
If you answered yes to #15, you may consider that major depression
is but one phase of a bipolar disorder.
For
the diagnosis to be complete, however, you should have a complete
physical exam and blood workup to rule out other medical problems
such as anemia, reactive hypoglycemia and low thyroid, all
of which cause symptoms which may mimic those of major depression.
Specifically,
you will want a test of the thyroid function called the TSH
(thyroid stimulating hormone) stimulation test as well as
the TRH (thyrotropin releasing hormone) stimulation test.
(The TRH test is complicated to perform and is thus rarely
ordered by doctors; however, it can pick up on thyroid disorders
that the TSH test cannot.) It is also important to speak with
a mental health professional to rule out the possibility that
you are responding to a temporary life upset instead of a
biological depression.
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