Natural Health Help

Your responses to the following satements may indicate the presence of depression. Becoming aware of your responses to these staymentss can also help you track changes as you take steps to address your mood experience.

Please select the one response to each item that best describes how you have felt for the past seven days. In the blank before your choice put a number from one to ten that indicates how strongly the statement reflects your experience of yourself now, with 0 being not true at all or ten being the most clear and powerfully true description of your experience now. If more than half of the 16 statements show a score greater than 5, or you have a total sore of more than 45, it is possible you will benefit from a visit with a health care professional for a formal assessment of your current emotional experience.

1. Falling Asleep:

_____I never take longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep

_____I take at least 30 minutes to fall asleep, less than half the time

_____I take at least 30 minutes to fall asleep, more than half the time

_____I take at least 60 minutes to fall asleep, more than half the time

2. Sleep During the Night

_____I do not wake up at night

_____I have a restless, light sleep with a few brief awakenings each night

_____I wake up at least once a night, but I go back to sleep easily

_____I awaken more than once a night and stay awake for 20 minutes or more, more than half the time

3. Waking Up Too Early

_____Usually, I awaken no more than 30 minutes before I need to get up

_____More than half the time, I awaken more than 30 minutes before I need to get up

_____I almost always awaken at least one hour or so before I need to, but I go back to sleep eventually

_____I awaken at least one hour before I need to, and can’t go back to sleep

4. Sleeping Too Much:

_____I sleep no longer than 7-8 hours/night, without napping during the day

_____I sleep no longer than 10 hours in a 24 hour period including naps

_____I sleep no longer than 12 hours in a 24-hour period including naps

_____I sleep longer than 12 hours in a 24-hour period including naps

5. Feeling Sad:

_____I do not feel sad

_____I feel sad less than half the time

_____I feel sad more than half the time

_____I feel sad nearly all the time

6. Decreased Appetite:

_____There is no change in my usual appetite

_____I eat somewhat less often or lesser amounts of food than usual

_____I eat much less than usual and only with personal effort

_____I rarely eat within a 24-hour period, and only with extreme personal effort or when others persuade me to eat.

7. Increased Appetite:

_____There is no change in my usual appetite

_____I feel a need to eat more frequently than usual

_____I regularly eat more often and/or greater amounts of food than usual

_____I feel driven to overeat both at mealtime and between meals

8. Decreased Weight (Within the Last Two Weeks)

_____I have not had a change in my weight

_____I feel as if I’ve had a slight weight loss

_____I have lost 2 pounds or more

_____I have lost 5 pounds or more
9. Increased Weight (Within the Last Two Weeks)

_____I have not had a change in my weight.

_____I feel as if I’ve had a slight weight gain

_____I have gained 2 pounds or more

_____I have gained 5 pounds or more.

10. Concentration/Decision Making

_____There is no change in my usual capacity to concentrate or make decisions

_____I occasionally feel indecisive or find that my attention wanders

_____Most of the time, I struggle to focus my attention or to make decisions

_____I cannot concentrate well enough to read or cannot make even minor decisions
11. View of Myself:

_____I see myself as equally worthwhile and deserving as other people

_____I am more self-blaming than usual

_____I largely believe that I cause problems for others

_____I think almost constantly about major and minor defects in myself

12. Thoughts of Death or Suicide:

_____I do not think of suicide or death

_____I feel that life is empty or wonder if it’s worth living

_____I think of suicide or death several times a week for several minutes

_____I think or suicide or death several times a day in some detail, or have actually tried to take my life.

13. General Interest:

_____There is no change from usual in how interested I am in other people or activities

_____I notice that I am less interested in people or activities

_____I find I have interest in only one or two of my formerly pursued activities

_____I have virtually no interest in formally pursued activities

14. Energy Level:

_____There is no change in my usual level of energy

_____I get tired more easily than usual

_____I have to make a big effort to start or finish my usual daily activities (for example, shopping, homework, cooking or going to work)

_____I really cannot carry out most of my usual daily activities because I just don’t have the energy

15. Feeling slowed down:

_____I think, speak, and move at my usual rate of speed

_____I find that my thinking is slowed down or my voice sounds dull or flat

_____It takes me several seconds to respond to most questions and I’m sure my thinking is slowed

_____I am often unable to respond to questions without extreme effort

16. Feeling Restless:

_____I do not feel restless

_____I’m often fidgety, wringing my hands, or need to shift how I am sitting

_____I have impulses to move about and am quite restless

_____At times, I am unable to stay seated and need to pace around

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