How do I know if I have a depression?
It is not always easy to recognize a depression, because depression can show itself in many different ways. If you are a doctor or psychologist, a depression is easier to recognize, because you know so much about it. But if you are not, it is difficult to know if you are depressed yourself or if others around you are depressed.
How can I recognize a depression?
Depression is a well-known concept. The different ways in which it shows itself, however, are less well-known. Depression can namely present in different ways. It can be so that one person mainly suffers from a social depression while another person suffers more from a psychological depression. Yet, it is one and the same illness, it only presents itself in different ways:
1. The physical depression
If you have a depression, you will notice that you can often not explain your fatigued or exhausted feeling. You need a lot more sleep and feel physically exhausted. Still, you have no reason for this.
2. The social depression
If you have a depression, you will notice that you hardly want any mor contact with your friends and family. You find it difficult to accept help and you prefer to lock yourself away, so that you do not have to do anything with other people.
3. The psychological depression
If you are depressed, you will notice that most symptoms fall into this category. If you are psychologically depressed, you will notice that this has a lot to do with your emotions: In the first stage you will notice that you are very sad. You feel helpless, are negative about the future, you have poor self-esteem and you are very pessimistic. You have no hope at all for the future, because your self-esteem is very poor. In the second stage you will notice that you hardly feel anything at all anymore. This is because the centers in your brain which are responsible for your positive and negative feelings has also been affected, because your depression has been present for quite some time now. You then feel like you are empty and that you can no longer experience any feelings.
Online self-help in the treatment of depression
As shown in the study for the Artsenkrant in 2011, the program by 15 Minutes 4 me helps to reduce depressed feelings by 77% after one month. Online self-help is becoming more and more established as good treatment for a minor depression and eventual as support for a major depression.
I think that I am depressed. Take the depression test!
If you think that you are depressed, then take the free depression test here! It will tell you your depression score after a few minutes, which you can then use to measure your evolution during the program.
