Take a test for major depression. Signs of depression in a woman

July 02, 2014

Symptoms of depression

Depression is not just a bad mood. Depression is a serious illness that can and should be treated.

How to distinguish depression from ordinary bad mood? The main symptoms of depression are:

• reluctance to move or do anything;
• melancholy, despair, causeless anxiety and irritability;
• loss of interest in favorite activities, communication and sex life;
• feelings of guilt and inferiority;
• a gloomy view of the future;
• increased attention to one’s health, suspiciousness;
• sometimes even thoughts of death and even suicide.

If you cannot come to your senses within about two weeks, then you are depressed.

A depressed mental state lowers immunity, so during depression, chronic diseases tend to worsen.

Causes of depression

Until now, experts are not unanimous in their opinion on why a depressive state occurs, what is the cause of depression.

Some experts believe that the main causes of depression are external causes: stress, family and household troubles.

Another part believes that the main reason is a person’s inability to react correctly to a situation, his internal complexes, and inability to adapt.

But most experts believe that the main reasons are stress and prolonged physical and nervous stress.

Prevention of depression

The best prevention of depression is a healthy lifestyle and positive life attitudes.

Secondly, to avoid depression, you need to learn to relax, rest, and not focus on any one problem, but switch from one problem to another.

Thirdly, as for nutrition, there is no special diet to prevent depression - the main thing is that the diet is balanced and varied.

At the stage of business growth, an entrepreneur may become depressed and his activities may lead the organization to a crisis:

Take a depression test

Forewarned is forearmed. To find out if you are prone to depression, take this test.

Galina Ilya Yuryevich! Thank you very much for your sessions, which I was lucky enough to take part in. Thanks to them, I have become more confident in many issues and situations that previously caused anxiety and concern. You taught me how to deal with this in a short period of time. It's a pleasure to deal with a high-level professional!

Anna Ilya Yuryevich, it is difficult to find words to express my gratitude to you for your help. I remembered in what state and with what thoughts I met last year, 2017. I remember those feelings of bitterness and anxiety that did not leave me under any circumstances. Finally, I left this desire for self-destruction and now I can breathe differently. Thank you!

Tatiana Thank you, Ilya Yurievich, for the consultation. Indeed, she allowed me to look at my life situation from a different angle. Thanks again!

Vladimir Thank you very much for the consultation! Indeed, I noticed that memories pop up at times when I was in a bad mood or irritable, but I could not understand that this was a defense mechanism. The next time he appears, I’ll try to talk about what exactly causes irritation, instead of plunging into memories.

Daria Many thanks for the help! I am very glad you helped me understand myself and showed me a new path to improve my life!

With this test you can find out with a 100% guarantee whether you have depression. If it turns out that it does not exist, read the article at least so that you know how to convincingly simulate this illness if something happens.

Andrey Nevtonov

At all times, there were diseases with beautiful names, which were not so prestigious to be ill with - rather, it was fashionable to say that you have them, or to replace real ailments with them. As soon as you said “monstrous influenza” instead of “terrible snot”, those around you immediately began to respect you and your delicate organization.

Today, the disease that everyone talks about, often without understanding the original meaning of the name, has become. It’s customary to blame everything on her: impotence, missed emergency jobs, and reluctance to go to an alumni reunion. At the same time, few people know that depression is a very specific illness caused by such complex biochemical changes in the nervous system that an ordinary person cannot cause them even for money. It is actually quite difficult to contract depression, and what is considered to be depression is, as a rule, a depressive accentuation of the personality, a bad mood, or even ordinary hatred of people.

Do you want to know the whole truth about whether you have depression? You have two scenarios to choose from: either you go to a psychoanalyst, and he gives you a clinical test that is 100% guaranteed to diagnose depression; or you pass exactly the same clinical test that we took as a souvenir when we went to get checked ourselves.

Yes, and keep in mind: the causes of depression are usually very specific - prolonged mental stress, overwork, chronic brain injury, severe and long-term diseases of internal organs, surgical operations, lack of blood supply to the brain and congenital neurochemical disorders. If you don’t have and never had any of the above, then most likely there’s no need for any tests. Just stop pretending to be depressed and it will go away!

According to the international classification of diseases “ICD-10”, depression is not even one disease, but seven different ones. In the sense that it is divided into groups.

Due to the occurrence

Neurotic D. caused by internal conflict.
Reactive D., which is a reaction to mental trauma.
Endogenous D., which is generally not difficult to treat, since it has neurochemical causes.

According to the nature of the flow

Classic D. Hidden D.

By severity

Small D. Large D.

Of course, these types can be combined. For example, major depression can be both classical and reactive. But that's not all. Only for MAXIM readers! Having caught hidden depression, you get two more types of the disease as a gift!

Jokes aside. Hidden depression can be somatized (this is when, in addition to a bad mood, you are tormented by some physical ailment such as stomach disease or dystonia) or masked. In this case, you will have all the symptoms of another disease, for example, appendicitis. However, an autopsy will show that you didn't have one.

What illnesses does depression like to disguise itself as?

1. Abdominal syndrome

Pain, heaviness, bloating, cold or heat in the abdomen, nausea, loss of appetite. Of course, the culprit could really be expired mold on the cheese. However, depression often uses these symptoms to lead doctors down the wrong path. The condition of your stomach worsens in the morning, and by the afternoon you again begin to pick at the contents of your plate with a sad look, feeling relieved. Patients are admitted to hospitals with suspected acute appendicitis and cholecystitis, but surgical intervention does not bring relief.

2. Headache

A person cannot say where exactly it hurts. More often, the pain appears to him in the form of iron hoops squeezing the skull, or something that is crawling inside the head. The condition, as in the case of the stomach, worsens in the morning and goes away in the evening. Such patients are diagnosed with “migraine” or “vegetative-vascular dystonia”, and then they take useless painkillers for years.

3. Facial pain

Sly depression mimics trigeminal neuralgia (it runs from the ear to the eyebrow and lower jaw) and inflammation of the temporomandibular joint. Desperate patients ask dentists to remove their completely healthy teeth, which sometimes, by the way, brings temporary relief. The mask of depression also causes a surprisingly vivid sensation of roughness and hairiness of the tongue.

4. Cardialgia

Imitation of interruptions in the functioning of the heart, burning or cold behind the sternum. The results of the cardiogram do not correspond to the patient’s complaints, but out of pity the doctors prescribe him heart medications. They reduce pain, but do not remove it completely.

5. Arthralgia

You think that you have radiculitis, joint diseases and neuralgia. But the doctors, having looked at your x-ray, twist their finger at your temple. At the same time, your joints hurt not where they should be, but a few centimeters higher.

6. Insomnia

Depression without sleep disorders is like Fyodor Konyukhov without legs. Moreover, sometimes insomnia may be the only symptom of masked depression. In this case, you will wake up unrested, have breakfast with an aversion to food, and then arrive at work already tired and immediately turn to a cigarette or a cup of coffee. Peaks of activity are possible, but usually they occur at 10-12 o'clock in the morning, and at this time you are still sleeping, because in the evening, despite being tired, you could not sleep and tossed and turned all night. And so every day.

7. Phobias

You understand that there are no sharks in soup, and the majority of aliens do not want to kill you. But this does not help overcome groundless fear. However, exotic phobias are rarely characteristic of depression. More often it causes fear of death from cessation of breathing, panic attacks. The phobia usually intensifies at night and in the morning.

8. Sexual disorders

Weakening erection? Accelerated or, conversely, delayed ejaculation? Don't rush to bequeath your penis to science. Perhaps it is again a matter of depression. By the way, the famous “demon in the rib” (or, in scientific terms, the desire for increasingly strong sexual stimuli) is also a sign of depression, and usually the earliest one.

9. Drug addiction and alcoholism

Indulging in bad habits brings short-term relief. A hangover or withdrawal symptoms are accompanied by monstrously violent symptoms taken from the previous eight points.

Clinical test for depression

Instructions

There are 44 groups of statements in front of you. In each of them, choose one answer option that best describes how you feel. Remember, your task is not to win, but to find out the truth. Answer sincerely. To make it easier for you to do this, we didn’t even intrusively “make fun” of the answers, as we usually do.

1 /44

How to deal with depression

This part will be of interest primarily to people who have scored significant amounts in the test. If, according to the results, you do not have depression, you can read this block with detached schadenfreude. So, getting out of a sad state on your own can take months and even years, and even then only on condition that you protect yourself from stress - preferably with a monastery wall or grove of palm trees. It’s easier to see a doctor, because depression is treatable. In fact, it is a metabolic failure. Doctors will treat you not only with pills, but also with intimate conversations (the most unpleasant part). Without the simultaneous elimination of physiological and psychological factors, it is impossible to cure a person.

Your best friend for the next six months should be a psychotherapist. Experienced mental trauma, mental stress, quarrels with others and internal conflicts, difficult experiences about one’s own health - all this can be the basis of depression. Treatment only with powerful pills (without psychotherapy), of course, helps, but after stopping the drugs, the disease can come visit you again.

What will they give you?

Sometimes particularly skillful psychotherapists lift their unfortunate patients out of depression without medication at all. Alas, in some cases it is impossible to do without medication: an advanced disease destroys the brain so much that the balance of neurotransmitters is not restored on its own.

Antidepressants

The basis of any course of treatment. Side effects and doses may vary, but the purpose of the drugs is one - to eliminate the biochemical basis of depression.

Vitamins and biostimulants

And these useful pills will help you improve the supply of energy and other useful little things to your brain cells. Actually, these are not some secret substances, but the same vitamins that healthy people drink to increase stress resistance and immunity.

Sadness and slight sadness are not yet a reason to seek help from a specialist. All people experience negative emotions from time to time. But, if depression for a long time prevents you from living normally, working, enjoying simple things, then the cause may be a real illness. In this article you will learn how to identify depression yourself. Also on this page you will find a useful test that will help make a preliminary diagnosis.

Attention! To accurately identify the disease, it is not enough to take tests on your own. You should definitely contact a professional psychologist.

Women are more emotional and prone to sudden mood swings, so you shouldn’t immediately mistake any weeklong blues for a mental disorder. When apathy and feelings of sadness are pronounced and do not leave you for more than two weeks, this may already be a sign of depression.

Main symptoms:

1. Depressed mood, melancholy.
2. Feeling of despair, loss of taste and meaning of life.
3. Significant worsening of fears and feelings of shame.
4. Anxiety, misgivings, tension.
5. Irritability, sudden changes in emotions, for example, from despondency to aggression.
6. Self-flagellation, continuous feelings of guilt.
7. Uncertainty, low self-esteem, dissatisfaction with oneself. Constantly looking for flaws in yourself. Fear of making mistakes.
8. Hobbies, favorite foods, TV series or music - everything that previously brought pleasure ceases to please.
9. Dullness of feelings, periodic apathy.

Physiological manifestations

An important sign of depression is the presence of the following health problems:

1. Sleep disturbance. Excessive drowsiness or insomnia.
2. Malfunction of the digestive system. Most often it is constipation.
3. Excessively increased appetite or its complete absence.
4. Libido problems: complete lack of interest in sex.
5. Increased fatigue. Habitual stress causes impotence.
6. There are unpleasant sensations or even pain in the muscles of the skeleton, stomach, and heart.

Behavioral signs

Usually a woman tries to eliminate physical discomfort, but the disease continues to develop. Even if the physiological symptoms disappear, depression can be identified by the following behavioral characteristics:

1. Apathy, lack of initiative, reluctance to set goals and actively achieve them.
2. The woman loses interest in communicating with friends, prefers solitude, and avoids contact with society.
3. Conscious refusal of entertainment.
4. Tendency to use intoxicating substances: alcohol, drugs, various stimulants.
5. Sloppiness appears, the woman stops striving to look attractive, and even neglects to observe general hygiene rules.

Several symptoms relate to thinking patterns. The following cognitive signs indicate that a patient is suffering from depression:

• suicidal thoughts often arise;
• awareness of one’s own uselessness, insignificance, powerlessness;
• thinking slows down, attention deficit occurs;
• negative perception of oneself and others prevails.

Types of depression

If you are interested in what forms this disease can occur, check out this table:

The main causes of depression in women

The development of the disease is usually preceded by tragic events. This could be the death of loved ones or problems in your personal life, followed by a whole range of unfortunate circumstances.

Attention! There are people whose personality has already developed with a predisposition to depression due to psychological trauma received in childhood. In such individuals, one small stress can trigger the disease mechanism.

Most often, the appearance of depression in a woman is caused by the presence of one of the following factors:

Don't forget about old age: in old age, women have to experience the death of close friends, acquaintances, and often husbands. Loneliness is followed by a feeling of helplessness, uselessness, abandonment.

Video - What is depression and how does it manifest itself?

Test for determining depression in women

Try taking the questionnaire created by the famous American psychotherapist Aaron Beck. The test consists of 21 points, with several statements below them. For each item, you must select one statement with which you agree.

For each first statement you select, you receive 0 points. Second – 1 point, third and fourth – 2 and 3 points, respectively.

Attention! The test results should not be interpreted as an axiom. They can only serve as a hint in deciding whether to visit a specialist.

Depressive disorder is one of the most common psycho-emotional disorders in the world. According to various sources, only 10 to 12% of the world's population suffers from depression. More and more people, especially residents of megacities, are asking the question: “ Do I have depression?. Every year, “the lady in black,” as K.G. called her. Jung, visited by about 250 million people. In addition to the direct impact on quality of life, depression carries with it many other dangers. Thus, it is a factor that increases the risk of anxiety and neurotic disorders, somatic diseases, as well as various types of addictions.

Depression is a fairly common psycho-emotional disorder.

It is not always possible to detect depression right away. It has no obvious symptoms like other diseases. Once infected with the flu, a person can easily determine its presence. A person experiencing serious mental suffering appears physically healthy. How to bring this uninvited guest to light? One of the most reliable ways to answer the question “Am I depressed” is an online test. There are a large number of methods on the Internet that allow you to identify it even without visiting a psychologist. Having assessed the results obtained, you can understand the severity of the disease and develop a strategy to improve your condition.

It must be taken into account that when working with any technique, the main condition for effectiveness is honest answers to questions. Only then can you accurately determine that the cause of problems with mood or well-being is depression. An online determination test is the first step you can take to improve your condition. In principle, the procedure will not differ from filling out the methodology in a psychologist’s office.

Causes. Medications and emotional disturbances

Currently, researchers believe the problem may be related to a common genetic predisposition. Depending on the environment, it is implemented in different versions. Depressive disorders can occur when taking anticonvulsants, corticosteroids, and antipsychotics. Given these factors, it is logical to ask the question: how depression is recognized using an online test? The fact is that modern tests reveal not only psychological disorders, but are also aimed at identifying malfunctions in the body that are caused by depression. Therefore, psychological diagnosis is necessary even when taking many medications that are not directly related to the activity of the nervous system. This will help to correct side effects in a timely manner.

Depression may even be caused by a genetic predisposition.

The role of neurotransmitters in the functioning of the nervous system

It is known that the disease disrupts the production of substances important for the coordinated functioning of the nervous system and the body as a whole - neurotransmitters (neurotransmitters). Since depression can be recognized by identifying symptoms of deficiency or excess of these substances, you should pay close attention to the signals that the body gives.

Symptoms of insufficient serotonin production

Serotonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland and digestive tract. It is this that ensures optimal interaction between neurons in the nervous system. A high concentration of this neurotransmitter provokes an experience of elation and euphoria. It also affects the ability to remember information and concentration. Often, disturbances in the production of serotonin appear due to a lack of sunlight in the autumn-winter period. Because of this, seasonal depression. Definition test serotonin testing is carried out in medical practice only when malignant tumors are suspected. Therefore, you can identify a lack of this hormone only by the following symptoms:

• Increased anxiety
• Sweating, tachycardia, dry mucous membranes
• Reduced performance
• Absent-mindedness, constant forgetfulness
• Decreased libido
• Digestive disorders

How do you understand that you have depression associated specifically with a lack of this hormone? First of all, you should pay attention to your well-being and mood swings in the autumn. If these symptoms become relevant as daylight hours shorten, the issue can be resolved by contacting a psychiatrist. The specialist will prescribe the necessary doses of antidepressants that will help correct the emotional background.

Norepinephrine deficiency

Another neurotransmitter, the production of which has a significant impact on the psycho-emotional sphere of a person, is norepinephrine. It, like serotonin, is important for remembering information and concentrating. Norepinephrine is responsible for the body's reactions in a stressful situation - it increases blood pressure, accelerates metabolic processes, and increases the pulse. The body may have either too much or too little of this hormone, which can significantly affect the level of depression. .

Lack of norepinephrine in the body can also cause depression

Symptoms of norepinephrine deficiency:

• decreased performance and motivation;
• motor retardation;
• memory and attention disorders;
• increased fatigue;
• low speed of thought processes.

Excess norepinephrine is indicated by:

• Hyperactivity;
• High blood pressure;
• Feelings of fear and anxiety;
• Irritability;
• Alertness, increased reaction to signals from the outside world;
• Problems falling asleep.

Disturbances associated with the production of norepinephrine often occur with prolonged or repeated stress. When in a stressful situation, the body begins to produce an increased amount of this neurotransmitter, which manifests itself in the form of depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders. How do you know if you have depression caused by excess norepinephrine? In addition to the listed symptoms, this hormone causes excessive emotional reactions to traumatic events.

Therefore, if a person is thrown into tears by any little thing, this is a serious sign that requires immediate psychotherapeutic intervention.

Signs of dopamine deficiency

Dopamine is a hormone responsible for good mood and positive reinforcement system.. This neurotransmitter is produced when eating tasty food, having sex - that is, during any activity that brings pleasure. If there is a lack of dopamine, it can be difficult for a person to control their emotions. Substances such as nicotine, alcohol, heroin and other drugs have been proven to cause increased dopamine production. When various types of addictions form, the body loses the ability to independently produce dopamine. Since identifying depression is also important for preventing addictive behavior, it is especially worth paying attention to the following signs of dopamine deficiency:

• Low achievement motivation, lack of interest in activities that previously seemed exciting;
• Fatigue, chronic fatigue;
• Low ability to concentrate, memory impairment;
• Constant self-recrimination;
• Auto-aggression (self-destruction);
• Tendency to procrastination;
• Inability to have fun.

Exercise can increase dopamine levels

You can increase dopamine levels through regular exercise, dietary restrictions (it is necessary to reduce the consumption of sugar and caffeine, replenish the lack of magnesium), and give up addictions, if any. How to determine depression that occurs due to a lack of dopamine in ordinary people who do not burden their bodies with alcohol or smoking?

Symptoms of low levels of this hormone will be the same as for those prone to addiction.

As a solution, you can try to engage in motivating activities, if possible, reward yourself even for small achievements. This way, the brain can once again learn to produce this hormone in the required quantities, and the symptoms of depression will be reduced.

The presence and level of depression can be determined using special tests

Definition of a disease - methods of domestic scientists

Among the developments of domestic scientists in the field of disease diagnosis, the following tests are popular.

• « Method for determining the level of depression", developed in 1988 by V.A. Zhmurov. The test consists of 44 points, each of which is aimed at diagnosing certain symptoms. The technique is successfully used in the work of many Russian psychologists and is characterized by ease of data processing - to recognize depression level everyone can use it;
• « Depression Questionnaire", or ODS, was developed at the Research Institute named after. Bekhterev under the guidance of researcher I.G. Bespalko in 1995. The technique is intended for the timely identification of one of the types – endogenous or neurotic. It must be remembered that the treatment of endogenous depression, as well as other disorders of this kind, is within the competence of psychiatrists. Unlike neurotic, this type requires drug treatment prescribed by a specialist. Therefore this depression level test most often used by clinical and health psychologists. The ODS includes 67 statements that require a positive or negative answer.
• In the diagnosis of psycho-emotional state, the test “ Neuropsychic stability"or NPU, which allows you to determine both the level of psychological endurance and the degree of physiological health of the body. The technique was developed at the Military Medical Academy of St. Petersburg. How do you know if you are depressed? The “NPU” test, despite the fact that it is not directly aimed at diagnosis, can effectively complement other methods. This questionnaire was developed to select employees for work in emergency situations, and today it is successfully used by many psychotherapists and for self-diagnosis of psychological resistance to stressful circumstances.

Foreign questionnaires to determine

The methods of European and American specialists are also effective in diagnosis. The most famous of them are:

• Test " Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale", developed by foreign scientists A.S. Zsigmond and R. P. Snaith. The advantage of the technique is its ease of application and processing of results. The scale is often used in medical hospitals to identify signs = in somatic patients who do not even ask the question “Do I have depression?” Meanwhile, those who are prone to the disease visit a cardiologist 6 times more often than ordinary people. They become patients of a neurologist, ENT specialist and urologist 2 times more often.
• « Zung scale"is a test that has proven reliability and is most suitable for self-detection of depression. The test was created by researcher William Tsung and adapted into domestic practice by T.N. Balashova at the Bekhterev Research Institute. How can you tell if you are depressed using the Zung scale? To do this, you need to answer twenty test questions. They measure several indicators. For example, changes in mood, the presence or absence of a feeling of spiritual emptiness, irritability or indecision - in a word, those signs that allow you to accurately identify depression. The test person's condition is considered normal if he scores up to 49 points on this scale.
• « Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale", or ESHPD. The phenomenon of postpartum depression has been known for a long time. Is it possible to quickly identify depression in women giving birth? The ESP test, developed in 1987 by researchers Edinburgh and Livingston, is designed specifically for new parents. The technique can be used not only by women in labor, but also to determine emotional disorders in fathers. Among the advantages of the test are a relatively short completion time (the test takes about 5 minutes) and a high level of reliability of the indicators.
• « Beck Depression Inventory"was developed back in 1961 by US researcher Aaron Beck. How to recognize psycho-emotional disorders in time, how to identify depression at an early stage? The Beck Depression Inventory test will be useful even for those who consider themselves psychologically healthy. The test questions involve assessing psychological characteristics, as well as physiological indicators - sleep, appetite. Aaron Beck is known for his developments in the field of cognitive psychotherapy, but he was most interested in depression. An online test for determining this disorder, like many other methods, is now publicly available. Over the long period of its use, it has been redesigned more than once and adapted to modern conditions. Therefore, the Beck scale is one of the most effective tests for self-diagnosis. The definition of depression according to the Beck scale today consists of 21 statements - this is a simplified version that measures the most important indicators.
• « Hamilton Depression Scale" This technique is recommended for those who have chronic depression. The test helps determine the dynamics of treatment. With its help, you can determine how effective a particular method turned out to be. The questions of this test are aimed at identifying symptoms of psycho-emotional disorders not only at the current moment, but also several days before testing.

The dangers of depression should not be underestimated!

Need to remember: depression is not as harmless a disorder as it might seem at first glance. There is an opinion that about 80% of visitors to a regular clinic suffer from it in one form or another. In order to learn how to work with your condition and improve it, sometimes radical measures are necessary - visiting a psychiatrist or psychotherapist, changing your living conditions. And sometimes you just need to take a test first. “Am I depressed or not?” - everyone must answer for themselves. After all, not only his health and well-being, but also the emotional state of loved ones depends on the condition of an adult.