Depression Diagnosis
The first step towards getting appropriate depression diagnosis is to have a professional examination by a doctor. Depression can be a secondary symptom of other illnesses such as diabetes or cancer and that is why first step in depression diagnosis is to rule out these possible illnesses or any other medical condition that can show the same symptoms.
In the next step in depression diagnosis, the patient should be assigned to a mental health doctor for farther evaluation.
In order to come up with an appropriate depression diagnosis, the doctor should take profound examinations and questioning.
The doctor should ask about everything there is to know about the patient’s condition, symptoms and any medication he uses on a regular basis.
Mental examinations are very important in depression diagnosis and they must test the patient’s ability to perform basic mental functions such as concentrating and memorizing.
The questioning part of depression diagnosis must include all possible symptoms: first of all when did the symptoms start and if there was any stressful event close to the appearance of the symptoms, is it the first time? if not than how was he treated in the past.
In order to get the best depression diagnosis the doctor should ask about sensations of sadness and loneliness, about family history, drugs and alcohol use or is there a life threatening illness in the background. A critical part of depression diagnosis derives from the patients answer to the question if he had any thoughts or desire to kill him self. Patients with such a desire should be constantly monitored to prevent suicides attempts.
In order to create a professional standard for depression diagnosis the American Psychiatric Association created a set of specifications. A proper depression diagnosis will include a combination of these specifications that defines the depression severity, recurrence and remission and there for gives a full picture regarding the patient’s condition.
These are some of the specifications to help with depression diagnosis:
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Mild depression diagnosis: the patient leads a normal life with no or just few of the symptoms.
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Moderate depression diagnosis: patient shows more symptoms and lives his life with some difficulties.
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Severe depression diagnosis: patient shows most of the symptoms and presents lack of ability to function. Many severe depression patients also suffer from suicidal thoughts and urges. 15% of them will also experience psychotic manifestations such as delusions and hallucinations.
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Single/recurrent depression diagnosis: in this case depression diagnosis considers first appearance of an episode as a single one and subsequent episodes as recurrent.
Mild depression diagnosis: the patient leads a normal life with no or just few of the symptoms.
Moderate depression diagnosis: patient shows more symptoms and lives his life with some difficulties.
Severe depression diagnosis: patient shows most of the symptoms and presents lack of ability to function. Many severe depression patients also suffer from suicidal thoughts and urges. 15% of them will also experience psychotic manifestations such as delusions and hallucinations.
Single/recurrent depression diagnosis: in this case depression diagnosis considers first appearance of an episode as a single one and subsequent episodes as recurrent.