depression symptoms test

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DEPRESSION SYMPTOM TESTS

Posted by BBN Community January 28, 2019

Have you ever had a doubt if you have depression when you feel sadness, lack of interest in doing certain things or feeling empty? Maybe… But depression means showing these characteristics continuously. If you notice these signs in you without a break, through about 6-8 months, you may better visit a doctor. By making this description, we hope to discuss the depression symptom tests in a detailed manner

DEPRESSION SYMPTOM TESTS

Doctors conduct several tests to diagnose depression.

Reasons

Various types of people suffer from depression in diverse ways due to several reasons.

Biological factors

Doctors can diagnose depression due to biological factors through blood tests, talking to family members and referring to family history because depression can be seen due to genetic causes.

Environmental Factors

Some environmental roots regarding depression are ;

  • Violence
  • Lack of care
  • Abuse
  • Poverty
  • Overwork
  • Poor diet
  • Lack of sleep

Doctors can find out these through an interview with the patient.

DEPRESSION SYMPTOM TESTS

Depression Diagnosing Tests

Depression diagnosing tests are crucial in diagnosing depression because it reveals the type of depression you’re suffering from.

Even though laboratory tests don’t do much in diagnosing depression, your doctor will run a blood test first. Through these physical exams, the doctor can find out whether the patient is suffering from health issues like Vitamin D deficiency, thyroid disorder, viral infections or underactive hormone levels. These physical exams are really important since your physical health can make a strong effect on your mental health.

Apart from physical health issues, there are psychological reasons that result in depression. In order to look into those, the doctor will ask you several questions about your mood, day-to-day life, behavior. And to look for genetic reasons, he will also ask you about your family’s psychological history too.

Generally, doctors ask to do a quiz in which there are in-depth questions regarding the above facts. You can rate the seriousness of the depression and the type of depression through these questionnaires.

  1. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS)

This is a very famous method used in many countries. Here, the seriousness of the depression is measured. There are 21 questions about mood, feelings of pessimism, suicidal thoughts, weight loss, sleeplessness, agitation, anxiety, feeling of guilt etc. questionnaire is scored on a 0-4 point scale. The seriousness of depression is increased with the total mark gets higher.

  1. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI, BDI-1A, BDI-II)

This is also a widely used method and there are three kinds of BDI s according to the time they were published.

  • BDI – 1961

This is the original BDI and this looks into how the patient has been feeling during the last week. There are 21 questions regarding that and higher scores indicate severe depression.

  • BDI-1A – 1978

This is the new version came after the original one. Here questions are asked regarding last two weeks.

This was not very successful as there were many criticisms against this.

  • BDI-II – 1996

Some changes are made in this latest edition of BDI. This is recommended for patients of 13 years and above.

  1. Zung self-rating scale

This scale determines the level of depression for already diagnosed patients.

20-44 Normal Range

45-59 Mildly Depressed

60-69 Moderately Depressed

70 and above Severely Depressed

  1. Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS

Here the acuteness of depression is rated due to mood swings. Questionnaires are marked on a 0-6 range and higher total indicates critical depression.