Am I Experiencing Depression?

Depression is a condition characterized by an extended period of low mood, anhedonia, and reduction in activity. It is thought to be experienced by between 3 and 7 people out of every 100 (Kessler et al, 2005).

The DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for a major depressive episode include:

• Feeling depressed most of the day, nearly every day, or having a markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day.
• Four additional symptoms from: 
• Significant weight loss or gain, with a decreased or increased appetite
• Insomnia or hypersomnia
• Psychomotor agitation or retardation
• Fatigue or loss of energy
• Feelings of worthlessness, or excessive or inappropriate guilt
• Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness
• Recurrent thoughts of death, including recurrent suicidal ideation, a suicide attempt, or a specific plan for committing suicide

The ICD-11 diagnostic criteria for a depressive episode include: 

• A period of depressed mood or diminished interest in activities, occurring most of the day and nearly every day during a period of at least two weeks.
• At least four other symptoms from: 
• Difficulty concentrating
• Feelings of worthlessness, or excessive or inappropriate guilt
• Hopelessness
• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide
• Changes in appetite or sleep
• Psychomotor agitation or retardation
• Reduced energy or fatigue

Am I Experiencing Depression? is an indicative screening tool, designed to help clients self-assess whether their experiences might warrant further investigation. It is not intended to give a formal diagnosis or provide a measure of severity.

Some people who report similar experiences to yours have a condition called depression. Would you like to try a short quiz that could give us an idea of whether this problem troubles you?

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
• Kasper, S. (2006). Anxiety disorders: under-diagnosed and insufficiently treated. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 10(sup1), 3-9.
• Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 617–627. 
• Hunter, E. C., Charlton, J., & David, A. S. (2017). Depersonalisation and derealisation: assessment and management. BMJ, 356.
• Stansfeld, S., Clark, C., Bebbington, P., King, M., Jenkins, R., & Hinchliffe, S. (2016). Chapter 2: Common mental disorders. In S. McManus, P. Bebbington, R. Jenkins, & T. Brugha (Eds.), Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014. Leeds: NHS Digital. 
• Stein, D. J., Lim, C. C., Roest, A. M., De Jonge, P., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Al-Hamzawi, A., ... & De Girolamo, G. (2017). The cross-national epidemiology of social anxiety disorder: Data from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. BMC medicine, 15(1), 143. 
• World Health Organization. (2019). ICD-11: International classification of diseases (11th revision). Retrieved from https://icd.who.int/