Today is the annual “National Depression Screening Day,” an effort to help people learn if they have the “common cold” of mental disorders — depression. Depression is characterized by feelings of never-ending sadness, hopelessness, fatigue, trouble with sleep, trouble with eating, and trouble with enjoying things in life that only yesterday seemed to bring a smile to your face (or some combination of those and similar kinds of symptoms).
In order for depression to be diagnosed, you must have felt these kinds of symptoms without a break for at least two weeks. Most people who experience depression, however, suffer in silence with their symptoms for a lot more than 2 weeks — some suffer for months or even years before finally seeking help for the problem.
When National Depression Screening Day began 20 years ago, it made a lot of sense. The quickest way to evaluate clinical depression is by an experienced mental health professional, like a psychologist.
But in this day and age of the Internet, I’d argue there’s little need to see a professional just to get a screening for depression. Our online depression screening quiz has been available for nearly 15 years and is a reliable, instant screening tool that you can take from the comfort of your home. Join the over 3 million others who’ve already taken the test, and share it with your friends and loved ones.
Before posting, please read our blog moderation guidelines. The comments below begin with the oldest comments first. Click on the last comments page to jump to the most recent comments.
Before posting, please read our blog moderation guidelines.
Post a Comment:
Copyright © 1995-2013 Psych Central. All rights reserved.
Site last updated: 19 May 2013
|
If you or a loved one are in the Denver Metro Area and are concerned about depression Metro Crisis Line is offering free, confidential depression and anxiety screenings online at: http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/screening/metrocs