How do you know whether or not you're suffering from Depression?

What are the sypmtons/criteria?

You feel sad. Actually, I'm not sure, maybe one should talk to a doctor, if they're worried. ;)

I think you'll find out for yourself once you reach that state of mind. I don't think it's something to look forward to though.

And say what?

"How do I know whether I'm just depressed a lot or suffering from depression?"

I honestly don't know.

You're right, it's not.

I've had it for awhile so I'll give my two cents on it.

When you have depression, there are a lot of symptoms to go along with it, it just depends what type of it you have. One symptom would be hypomania, if you're depressed, you sleep more, but if you're not, you stay awake for hours on end and sleep less.

A second would be that you feel like nothing could go wrong, euphoric in a sense, and then you hit rock bottom later on, feel horrible. Periods of depression can last for hours, or days. When it does, will power tends to be lacking, you won't want to talk to anyone, so forth. It's like having a split personality, you think oppositely of what you would normally, for a minute you could think the world is against you, then another minute say, "Why was I thinking that?" I've done that quite a few times.

That's the basics of it though.

You can tell by going to a psychologist and being diagnosed. You're certainly not going to be able to tell by asking on a message board, knowledgeable and well-meaning though the members are. Listing symptoms and experiences is useful and interesting, but they cannot express the degree of distress or the impact on functionality. I could go get my DSM and list the criteria for you, but you can't self-diagnose, and even if you did, what would be the point? You can't give yourself therapy or medication. It seems to me like you're probably feeling quite distressed about how you're feeling or behaving - the very best thing you can do is go talk to someone who has the knowledge and expertise to help you through it.

Not necessarily on both accounts. I found out what type of depression I had 3 months before the doctors did, and all you have to do is think up of your own methods of self therapy, it does work for some people, not all but some. You can't rely just on medication given to you, you also have to take a step in getting rid of it yourself.

Simply, you feel like shit, dont care much about anything, sad, pessemistic, and well..you have the "the world sucks" attitude.. XD that's my case anyways, but seriously i think one of the serious symptoms would be when you can't really think straight....

<font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#00FF00">Not necessarily my dad had severe depression the psychologist saw was full of crap and tried to pin the way he was behaving on my Mom. A doctor who came said he just had a creative imagination.

We diagnosed his depression using our home medical books. We didn't have the exact type of depression right but were very close. Suffice to say I placed my Dads arse in the car and took him to a larger medical facility to get a 4th opinion. He broke down as I was driving him to the hospital for no apparent reason. He had really bad abnormal breath as well which had something to do with his chemical imbalance. When he got to the hospital he was all honky dory and smiley saying nothing was wrong. This Doctor had more sense and said something was definitely not right upstairs, and got the ambulance to take him against his will to a facility that could better diagnose the exact problem.

Having a degree means nothing if you don't have the wit and cajunas to use it properly. A degree just means you are learned in that field, doesn't give you the wits to apply what you learned. There are some really bad doctors out there who in some cases know less than us, well it is pretty much all in books if your willing to read. If you can read and do a little research you can make an approximate diagnosis. A psychologist can only offer advice and good many of them are full of crap, you want advice listen to Dr. Phil as he is good at is job although pretty much what he says is no more than good common sense.

You want to diagnose yourself. Start by asking your close friends, or family members have you been behaving slightly of what is normal for you or said anything they thought out of place. It is a little hard for us to tell if you are depressed because we don't see you on a daily basis. Do a little research on the subject, go to the library to look at medical books, if you think it is a real problem see a real medical Doctor not a psychologist, and get a second opinion if necessary, because if you have depression and don't get help it could get much worse and even affect your family and friends.

My uncle had a different kind of depression were he could go to sleep at the drop of a hat. Just wanted to sleep all the time no matter how much sleep he got.

Some people have to stay on there medication for life as there body chemistry will revert them back into there state as is the cast with both my uncle and dad. This is more of a phisical depression, people with mental depression as a result of loss of loved ones etc, can get off meds again if they can learn to cope with the outside force causing it.</font>

[ 02-10-2005, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

Absolutely. I'm not a fan of medication by itself by any means. The truth is, though, that people who are depressed most often lack motivation and self-direction. The ability of a depressed person to devise methods of overcoming their own depression then are necessarily hindered. Having a trained professional who can help you develop coping strategies, as well as provide unconditional support and empathy cannot be anything other than beneficial.

Sigmar, the general criteria for major depression include a persistant sad mood and or a loss of pleasure in activities that used to be enjoyable. These are the major characteristics. These should be experienced more days than not for at least two weeks. Depressed people also experience appetite and sleep changes - either too much or too little of either. They feel fatigue, apathy, concentration problems, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, or suicidal thoughts. They need not experience all of these.

Of course, there are other disorders that fall under the umbrella of mood disorders other than major depression. These are less extreme - for example, you may not experience the sad mood for the full two weeks. Remember that mood disorders are cyclical. People aren't severely depressed for months on end (usually) - there are periods of relative normalcy. Also, people may experience mood changed during the day - often mornings are very difficult but symptoms recede during the day, or vice versa.

It is important that such feelings cannot be attributed to medical problems that you may not have any idea you have. This is one reason that professional advice should be sought.