When you are going through a tough time it is normal to feel down for a while. Emotions like sadness and grief help make us human. But if you are feeling sad or miserable most of the time over a long period of time, you might have depression. How will you know if it is sadness or depression?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself. Use the following scale.
NOT AT ALL · SEVERAL DAYS · MORE THAN HALF THE DAYS · NEARLY EVERY DAY
- How often have you been bothered by feeling down, depressed, irritable, or hopeless over the last two weeks?
- How often have you been bothered that you have little interest or pleasure in doing things over the last two weeks?
- How often have you been bothered by trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much over the last two weeks?
- How often have you been bothered that you have poor appetite, weight loss, or overeating over the last two weeks?
- How often have you been bothered by feeling bad about yourself – or feeling that you are a failure, or that you have let yourself or your family down over the last two weeks?
Answering these questions honestly can give you a better idea how you are coping during difficult times in your life or major changes such as job loss, illness, and isolation. If your answers are “several days” or more frequent for any of these questions, I would encourage you to head to the site listed below to take a very quick quiz, 8 questions, that will provide a score at the end. This personal assessment will help determine if you should contact someone to talk about what you are experiencing. Mental health is equally as important as caring for our physical health. Unfortunately, many are guilty of placing less importance on this, causing those in need to not reach out for support.
If you or someone you know is or has been bothered by thoughts of hurting themself in some way or sensing that things would be better if they were no longer around, it is very important that a contact is made right away for assistance using this link. https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Quick Depression Quiz: https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/depression-test/
Use the Contact Us Link to Schedule a FREE counseling discovery call.
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