Sad to say

Depression affects about 20 million people in the United States annually. The amount is probably underestimated, as a vast number of patients do not seek treatment. Sadness, misery, sorrow, melancholy, and the blues are often used interchangeably with depression. I will not claim expertise in this field, as I am not a psychiatrist. Encounters with depressed patients happen on a daily basis though; most of them on anti depressant medications. These patients tend to be sicker, non compliant with their medications and suffer frequent asthma exacerbations for which I see them for.

Finding out whether a patient is depressed does not seem complicated. A screening questionnaire is available for patients to accomplish. Their primary care physician may further evaluate the test and determine if their patient fulfills criteria for depression. People can even screen themselves through the Internet through an abbreviated 10 question screening test online. This is assuming that a person can still be well enough to browse the World Wide Web and seek help for their mental health. Knowing when to seek professional help like psychotherapy versus self help like retail therapy is difficult. Individuals cope with feelings of depression differently. Eating comfort food such as ice cream, sushi, or a bowl of hot soup on a wintry afternoon make some people feel good. Retail therapy in the form of shopping for new shoes, a new BMW, or just even new underwear, I’ve heard can be uplifting as well. The reasons people get depressed can be as varied as the coping mechanisms they employ. Losing a loved one, divorce, and moving, expectedly can bring anybody’s spirit down. Marriage, growing old, and having just delivered a baby, surprisingly can do the same.

The self rating test for depression come in multiple forms. Different authors construct questions from the same concept revolving around the symptoms of depression. The Rush quick inventory of depression symptomatology self rating test is widely used and easily accomplished. The test inquires about sleep and wake cycles, appetite and weight changes; all of which are straightforward. However the inquiry becomes tedious when it deals with thoughts of death and suicide, general interest and energy level. I tried to answer the questions and found myself in deep thought, sincerely concerned that I might be depressed at some point. I think about death when I ride my motorcycle, and notice that I am hardly interested in my work, but I wouldn’t think this qualifies as depression.

A medical health professional should be able to recognize or at least suspect if his or her patient has depression. This should prompt a referral to a mental health professional if needed. Just like a lot of treatment regimens, feeling better from depression takes time. Even with anti-depressant medications, the therapeutic effect usually takes several weeks. People do not just “snap out” of depression without the proper treatment. It all starts from an individual making a concerted effort to see his primary care physician and relaying his feelings of sadness. Moreover, taking the self rating test this holiday season could be the ideal gift for one’s mental health. There are a lot of reasons to be sad; too many to enumerate. It is when the reasons to be happy, however, no longer do, that makes sadness, depression. Take the test, especially if it’s just too sad to say.