How can you tell if you are depressed?

Answer 1

Most likely if you think you are depressed and you are seeking out help on the internet or from others then you are probably depressed. Normal sadness is triggered by unfortunate events/tragedies/bad days but it goes away, usually quickly or at most a few days, and can be relieved by doing activities you enjoy or being with friends and having fun. Depression can be triggered or occur randomly for no explainable reason at all and lasts longer than a few days, and the normal activities you enjoy will not help and are no longer enjoyable. Depressed people can feel sad, hopeless, fatigued, have no interest in things, feel detached from people and the world, feel like a burden on others, and more. Depression is often accompanied by social anxiety, other anxieties/phobias, and panic attacks.

The Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM) -- the modern go-to source for psychological assessment and diagnoses asks these questions in order to determine if one has experienced a Major Depressive Episode:

Note: Don't count any of these symptoms that are clearly related to a general medical condition (your appetite has changed as you've just had stomach surgery for instance) or due to mood-incongruent delusions or hallucinations (you have a known CNS disorder or have been diagnosed as psychotic or schizophrenic).

A. Five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

Note: Do note include symptoms that are clearly due to a general medical condition, or mood-incongruent delusions or hallucinations.

(1) depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). Note: In children and adolescents, can be irritable mood.

(2) markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation made by others)

(3) significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. Note: In children, consider failure to make expected weight gains.

(4) insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day

(5) psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down)

(6) fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day

(7) feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick)

(8) diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others)

(9) recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide

B. The symptoms do not meet criteria for a Mixed Episode.

C. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

D. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hypothyroidism).

E. The symptoms are not better accounted for by Bereavement, i.e., after the loss of a loved one, the symptoms persist for longer than 2 months or are characterized by marked functional impairment, morbid preoccupation with worthlessness, suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms, or psychomotor retardation.

If you answer YES to five or more of these questions, then you may have experienced a Major Depressive Episode. If these occur without a Manic episode, or a diagnosis of schizoform disorders, the diagnosis is depression.

[Indented text ref. DSM-IV circa Feb 2010]

Answer 2

you become depressed when you have nothing to do and you dont go outside and do something active