You must have wondered if you really are "that depressed", or if there's a way to know for sure. The only way to know for sure if you have depression is to see a mental health professional. They can listen to your problem, assess and analyze, give you a diagnosis and a treatment plan.

So how can this workbook help?

There are tools or questionnaires that can help you get an idea of your depression risk and severity, but they are not the same as seeing a professional. In the next page, you'll find a brief questionnaire called The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).

PHQ-9 is widely used to assess the severity of depression and monitor response to treatment. It has nine questions that correspond to the nine criteria for major depressive disorder in the DSM-IV*.

Each question is rated from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day), and the total score ranges from 0 to 27. The higher the score, the more severe the depression. The PHQ-9 can also screen for suicidal thoughts and functional impairment due to depression.

MAKING SENSE OF YOUR SCORE

NOW WHAT?

After finding your PHQ score, you should discuss the results with a mental health or a medical professional. If your score is five or higher, it indicates a possible case of depression, hence you should follow up with your doctor. They will formulate a suitable treatment plan for you on the basis of your condition's severity. 

Then, your journey begins.

In the coming chapters, you'll find more tools that can help you track your mood and improvement.

REFERENCES:

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9 & PHQ-2). https://www.apa.org/pi/about/publications/caregivers/practice-settings/assessment/tools/patient-health

Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606-613. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x

Patient. (2020). Patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9). https://patient.info/doctor/patient-health-questionnaire-phq-9

University of Michigan Health System. (2016). PHQ-9* questionnaire for depression scoring and interpretation guide. https://www.med.umich.edu/1info/FHP/practiceguides/depress/score.pdf