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Generally doctors and other health professionals aren't keen on patients' self testing for depression because the checklists can't possibly be thorough enough for accurate diagnosis. Not only can there be other reasons for the depression symptoms, but extreme scores can indicate other psychological problems quite apart from depression. The gold standard for depression testing used to be the Beck Depression Inventory, named after Aaron T Beck, developer of cognitive behavior therapy, a therapy that is now under attack with claims it is no more effective than placebo. A PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST TO MEASURE DEPRESSION SCORES These days we have the Lifeworks Joy Inventory, developed by The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd in Perth, Western Australia. It's a very accurate test, and a side benefit is that it's positively oriented, so that the act of taking the test begins to prepare the client to move forward. Health practitioners and the general public can have confidence in the Lifeworks Joy Inventory because in every case to date it has matched well with the BDI and with other commonly-used scales (Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale, and the client's own Subjective Units of Discomfort Scale). And unlike the BDI, the Lifeworks Joy Inventory was developed for sharing, and is therefore free of charge and may be freely distributed. So if you believe you or a loved one may be suffering from depression, you'll find a link below to an interactive online test that will not only give you a depression rating and explain its meaning, but will also spell out what else you need to do in order to get a correct diagnosis. Extreme scores in depression testing, whether very high or very low, are also cause for concern. Below 4 could suggest not only the most severe depression, but also could suggest exaggeration, or even indicate histrionic or borderline personality disorders. Over 50 could indicate denial of depression, or "faking it", a life approach which is not considered adaptive and which has been strongly correlated with increasing rates of psychological disorder. SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO AFTER YOUR TEST? Regardless of your test results, if you suspect that you may be depressed, it's very important to make an appointment with your doctor so that he/she can ask the right questions to determine if there's a medical reason for your depression symptoms (such as an endocrine disorder), as well as checking exact symptoms in relation to digestion, sleep, skin and hair, sexual dysfunction, stress factors, and a range of other matters. Once you have a proper diagnosis of depression you can embark on treatment knowing that any other medical issues have also been identified and will also be treated. Please don't believe any health professional or web site which tells you that depression in incurable, or takes a long time to cure, or that you'll have to learn to live with it. All of those opinions have been well and truly discredited thanks to Australian research which shows depression can usually be completely cured within days and without drugs. While it's possible to get a complete cure for depression in just days, in order to achieve that it's essential to attend to the 17 lifestyle factors that we know can create or maintain depression, as well as the thinking styles that become a habit when the person has been depressed for a while. Using modern therapy techniques, even those can be resolved very rapidly, often in just minutes. After all, if your lifestyle is healthy and truly "life sustaining", and you feel mentally strong and optimistic, depression simply cannot co-exist with that state of affairs. You have a whole life to get on with.
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You might like to check the online, interactive test for depression and see your results and the meaning of your score range instantly. Make sure you pick up your free copy of the book "17 Solutions" once you've finished your depression test.
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