Diagnosis

In order to be diagnosed with depression, several main and additional symptoms must occur over a period of at least two weeks: It is therefore clear that depression can bring about physical changes as well as changes in behaviour and experience. – mild depression: at least two main symptoms + at least two additional symptoms

Moderate depression: at least two main symptoms + at least three to four additional symptoms
Severe depression: all three main symptoms + at least four additional symptoms

Recognize

From these various symptoms and complaints, a number of questions can be created to help people who fear that they may be suffering from depression to find some clarity and then perhaps seek help from their family doctor or even a psychologist. – Can you still feel joy? Or are you often joyless, unable even to react positively to a pleasant event?

Do you feel broken, miserable, battered, how seriously ill, but can’t find the right reason? – Do you find it difficult to make decisions lately, even if it is only about everyday things like “what do I wear today? – Have you lost interest in things that used to excite you?
Have you been prone to brooding over problems lately, even the most trivial ones? – Do you feel almost permanently depressed, resigned, hopeless, depressed by a melancholy to such an extent that you can almost feel it physically? – Do you feel tired, listless and without initiative, without drive or strength – even though you have not spent much time before?
Are you suddenly completely insecure, without any self-confidence, full of feelings of inferiority? – Are you blaming yourself for exaggerated or completely unfounded self-reproach? Do you feel somehow worthless and guilty without being able to give a concrete reason?
Do you think, speak or move lately as if you have become slow, sluggish, indecisive, fickle in your decisions, fearfully weighed out, and thus unable to cope with even your most everyday tasks? – Do you find it very difficult to concentrate, do you often forget things, are upset about your “emptiness of mind” and perhaps even fear a beginning mental weakness? – Can you no longer sleep: difficulty falling asleep, fragmented sleep, gruelling early awakening with great fear of the coming day to be overcome?
Doesn’t everything taste the same anymore? – Have you lost your appetite and thus your weight? – Have you had problems for some time now, also in a sexual sense?
Do you repeatedly feel persistent, hard to describe feelings of pressure, discomfort, pain, especially in your head, chest, back, etc.? ? – Do you have more and more often the feeling that your life has become senseless?
Do you sometimes think about your death or have you even ever imagined how you could end your life? If you can answer several of these questions clearly with “yes”, this is a sign that you should seek help. For example, you can go to your family doctor or another doctor you trust and tell them about your problems and your suspicion of depression.

Don’t be ashamed and tell them everything – the doctor is bound by professional secrecy and so nobody will know about your intimate symptoms. Because if you do not tell the doctor about your problems, it is very difficult for him to give you adequate help. More than half of all depressions remain unrecognised despite a visit to the doctor, precisely because it is still an issue of shame for those affected. However, if a depression is not recognised and professionally treated, there is a quick risk that the depression will become chronic and often suicide is the only way out for those affected.