How Depression Tests Can Help You
A depression test is sometimes useful in helping you work out whether or not most of the difficulty you’re experiencing in your life is due to depression.
Identify symptoms
A depression test is a tool that you can use to help you identify the depression symptoms that you could be experiencing. It’s a useful step to help you know if you need to seek further tests and treatments. It’s always best to seek help from a health care provider when you have a health problem. Understand that only a medical professional is qualified to give you a medical diagnosis. However, it can also be useful to have an assessment that you can do on your own. Somehow, a depression test can give you a ‘partial confirmation’ with regards to your mental state. You can use this when opening up to your doctor or therapist about what you're going through.
Monitor your moods regularly
You can also use the depression test as a tool to help you track your moods regularly. If you’re receiving ongoing treatment, it can be useful to monitor if there are changes in your moods. This can help you and your health care provider or therapist determine which treatment options are working for you.
Private Self-Test For Depression
There’s still a stigma around depression in our society today. It’s understandable that you may want to have a private self-test first before talking to someone else about it.
With a busy schedule, one of the easiest and quickest ways to achieve this is through taking an online depression test. There are websites online where you can find free depression tests that you can take anonymously and view the results in private. However, it’s important to understand that it’s always best to get a professional opinion from a health expert.
If your results suggest that you could be suffering from depression, then you must seek help. Understand that depression is a serious mental condition. The good news is that depression can be treated. If you don't seek appropriate help it's unlikely that your depression will disappear on its own.
Online Depression Tests
The internet is a great platform that most people use nowadays for communication, research and more. It’s also a useful place where you can find online depression tests. Taking an online depression test is a convenient and quick way to help you understand more about the symptoms that you’re experiencing.
It’s important to understand that the result won’t give you a diagnosis. It can only help you identify and measure your feelings and behavior in the recent days. It’s important for you to answer the test honestly in order to get an accurate result.
Some of the most common depression tests that you can see online are the following:
1) Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD)
2) Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R)
3) Goldberg
4) Wakefield
5) Geriatric
6) K10
7) Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology -Self Report (QIDS-SR)
8) Black Dog Institute Self-Test For Depression
9) Beck Depression Inventory
Depression Tests and Assessment Tools Used By Health Experts
Doctors use different kinds of depression tests to find out if a patient is suffering from depression. Patients are asked a set of questions that will help a doctor find signs of depression. Doctors would also perform physical tests, such as a blood exams and other screening tests. This can help them rule out other possible conditions with similar symptoms as depression. A depression test can also be useful for doctors to determine the severity of a patient’s mental condition. A thorough evaluation can help doctors to determine which specific types of treatment a patient needs.
Other Medical Tests Used to Diagnose Depression
Some of the tests used by health experts to diagnose depression:
1) Lab tests to make sure that your symptoms aren’t related to other health problems, such as a thyroid disease or cancer.
2) Blood tests to help them find out any physical health problems that may cause your depression, such as anemia, thyroid problems and other nutrient deficiencies.
3) CT scan or MRI of the brain to check for brain tumors.
4) Electrocardiogram or ECG to check any heart problems.
5) Electroencephalogram or EEG to measure the electric activity of the brain.
6) Depression Screening Instruments:
a) Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
b) Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale
c) Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D)
d) Hamilton Rating Scale For Depression (HRSD)
A Few Disadvantages of Using A Self-Test for Depression
It’s important to understand that a self-test for depression won’t give you a diagnosis. It can only help you identify the symptoms that you’re experiencing. It may also help you measure your feelings and behaviors in the recent weeks. Some people find it a problem to fill and evaluate the depression tests by themselves. A health expert is equipped to give you assistance in this area.
Some depression tests are too long. It takes so much time, and yet the results aren’t consistent. It’s not advisable to rely solely on a depression test that you’ve done by yourself. If you're unsure about the result then please ask for professional help.