Am I Depressed?

Before I start I just wanted to say I really like my Doctor! I was dubious about talking to him at first as he has only been my GP for a while but from the first time I saw him he seemed a real nice guy who made me feel he was genuinely interested in my problems. He even told me today he would like to read my blog and what a good idea he thought it was!

So the question for today is “Am I Depressed?” 

What are the questions you should ask yourself to reach the conclusion that you should see you Doctor?

Below is a questionnaire that is used by the NHS as a “screener” (my Drs word!) for depression have a look at it and answer honestly, or ask someone your concerned about to have a look and answer.

PHQ-9		Over the last 2 weeks (or other agreed time period) how often have you been bothered by    any of the following problems?	not      at all	several days	more than half the days	nearly every day
1.	Little interest or pleasure in doing things		0	1	2	3
2.	Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless		0	1	2	3
3.	Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much		0	1	2	3
4.	Feeling tired or having little energy		0	1	2	3
5.	Poor appetite or overeating		0	1	2	3
6.	Feeling bad about yourself — or that you are a                        failure or have let yourself or your family down		0	1	2	3
7.	Trouble concentrating on things, such as                    reading the newspaper or watching television		0	1	2	3
8.	Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed?  Or the opposite — being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual		0	1	2	3
9.	Thoughts that you would be better off                           dead or of hurting yourself in some way		0	1	2	3
	PHQ-9 total score =

add up your total score out of a maximum of 27 to see where you are on the depression scale

Depression Severity:

0-4 None

5-9 Mild depression

10-14 Moderate depression

15-19 Moderately severe depression

20-27 Severe depression.

Hopefully a pdf version of the question is available here PHQ9_depression for you to download and keep it will help you or someone you love providing the questions are answered with honesty.

 

Once you have done the questionnaire what is the next step?  well of course its to speak to a healthcare professional and start treatment if deemed an appropriate course of action but as someone who took 2 years to ask for help I can understand your reluctance to do that!

As for my scores? well I’m happy to share them with you if it will help! I am only 4 months into my treatment/recovery and each month I see my Dr to take this test. Here are my scores over those 4 months

Month 1 – 18

Month 2 – 24

Month 3 – 14

Month 4 – 10

so I am fluctuating between being moderately and severely depressed but by all accounts this is normal especially in the first few months as your body adjusts to medication as well as the shock of realising you asked for help in the first place LOL

So if I can ask for help then what is stopping you? Do the questionnaire you may be shocked at the score you get back!

 

Good Luck!

Garry