Depression does not only occur in certain people or age groups. To find out whether you are depressed or not, you can take special tests and examinations from a doctor. Come on, find out in the following review.
Benefits of Depression Tests
Depression tests do not diagnose depression. However, the results indicate if there are symptoms of depression and may require further evaluation.
This is because the symptoms of depression are so diverse and not always realized, so experts have developed depression tests that can be done independently, or assisted by medical professionals such as psychologists and psychiatrists.
Depression tests are generally questionnaires to gather as much information from patients as possible.
After getting an overview of psychological conditions through the results of depression tests, you need to consult further with a psychologist or psychiatrist.
The goal is to be able to do a more careful examination, to determine the diagnosis of depression. That way, psychologists and psychiatrists can provide the treatment needed.
Depression Test
Depression is a mood disorder that makes a person continue to feel sad and lose interest in daily activities. Not only older persons, this mental illness can also affect children, adolescents, to the elderly.
If it has been affected and does not get treatment, the safety of the sufferer’s soul can be threatened. They may fall into compulsive behaviors that lead to addiction, attempts to self-harm to attempted sui**cide.
Self Reporting Questionnaire 20
The Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) is a questionnaire-filling test developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for screening for mental disorders, one of which is depression. Questions asked include a variety of complaints that may have been experienced over the past 30 days.
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II)
The Beck Depression Inventory was created by Aaron Beck, a psychiatrist who is considered the father of cognitive therapy.
The current version of the test, BDI-II, is suitable for individuals 13 years and older.
The depression test contained 21 questions, with each being given a score on a scale of 0 to 3. A higher total score will indicate more severe symptoms of depression.
Zung Self-Rating Depression Scales (SDS)
Zung’Self-Rating Depression scale assesses the severity of a person’s depression.
This depression test consists of 20 items that explore the psychological, somatic, and affective aspects of depression. This type of test is a quick and simple tool.
Depression Diagnosis
Knowing whether you are depressed or not, do not just rely on the results of independent tests alone. You should not “self-diagnose” or diagnose the disease under your own assumptions after seeing the results of a self-test.
You need to see a doctor, psychologist, or psychiatrist. Through examination of the expert as well, you can get to consider whether you only need to take drugs to overcome depression alone or at the same time undergo psychotherapy.
The following are tests that doctors usually recommend to establish a diagnosis of depression.
Physical examination
Depression may be related to physical disorders experienced. So if you feel the symptoms of depression, the doctor can do a physical examination in order to find out the condition that causes it.
The doctor will also check for physical symptoms that can arise due to depression, such as:
- Slow and unfocused manner of speaking
- Often clenched hard
- Disturbed body movements
- Memory loss.
Laboratory tests
After getting the information needed from the patient, such as personal medical history, family medical history, and physical examination results, the doctor can also conduct laboratory examinations in the form of blood tests and urine tests.
This test is done to detect other diseases that can cause symptoms similar to depression, such as hypothyroidism. In addition to conducting laboratory tests, the doctor will also check the types of drugs that you have taken and have already taken to minimize symptoms of depression that appear as a side effect of the drug.
Psychic evaluation
In the evaluation of the psychic condition, the doctor will see further the symptoms of depression that you feel. In addition, the doctor will also map the patterns of behavior, feelings, and thoughts that you have recently felt. Your doctor may instruct you to fill out a psychological questionnaire to make sure it goes further.
After doing a detailed examination, the new doctor can diagnose that the condition you are experiencing is indeed depression and not another condition with similar symptoms. Your doctor will also determine the type of depression you suffer from and begin appropriate treatment.
