# Self-assessment of severity of depression



## braveheart (Mar 11, 2008)

I've started filling in this mood tracker each day online. 
It involves stating the level of depression - mild, moderate, or severe.

I feel unsure about assessing this in myself.

Noone has ever told me what level of severity my depression is, although we all know when it gets worse.
I can't remember a time when I was _not_ depressed. 
Like, I'd say it was pretty severe right now. This is much 'worse' than my 'baseline' of 'mild' depression. And this is verified by online tests. But I'm getting up out of bed. I know I'm off work this week, but. "It's not that bad." 

Thoughts?


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## Into The Light (Mar 11, 2008)

hi braveheart, the thing that came to mind is the 10 days to self esteem book by david burns. in it he has a questionnaire where you check off the answers and you add up points. 0-10 points is no depression, 10-20 is mild, etc.

there is also a questionnaire you can fill in for anxiety as well.

do you have a copy of the book?

Amazon.com: Ten Days to Self-Esteem: David D. Burns: Books


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## braveheart (Mar 11, 2008)

Thanks. 

No, I don't have a copy of that book...


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## ladylore (Mar 11, 2008)

My thoughts on this Braveheart is - What is severe for you?

I know for myself I can live with a certain amount of depression but there are certain signs that only I can recognize that the depression is more severe.

What it comes down to for at least me is "What is tolerable and what isn't.


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## Retired (Mar 11, 2008)

From my understanding, and I stand to be corrected, there is no objective way a person can evaluate the severity of their own illness.

A mental health specialist will use diagnostic criteria in order to establish a diagnosis, but clinical experience based on interview combined with possible objective diagnostic testing might be the most reliable method of understanding the severity of ones depressive illness.

What is the immediate purpose of quantifying your depression?  Is it solely for intellectual satisfaction, or is there a plan for treatment?

If the latter, what treatment options are you considering?


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## Halo (Mar 11, 2008)

Braveheart,

I know the moodtracker that you are speaking of and how the depression is rated on there.  That was one of the things that I had difficulty with as I found that there were not a lot of options (mild, moderate or severe).  

Now there are two options you have here.  One is to keep it this way and choose one of the above or the other is to be able to do two mood logs per day and enter how you are doing (depression wise) twice.  That may make it easier or harder, I am not sure.

In any event, this is the way that I use to look at the different levels of depression on the moodtracker.

Mild - This is when I felt like I was just coasting and everything seemed to fall into place but still felt a slight feeling of depression or sadness.

Moderate - This was what I normally chose as it was the state that I was in most days.  This was for days that I was still able to go to work and function with some people around, pretend on the outside that things were "okay" when inside I felt they were not, when I was very aware of the depression but was still able to push myself enough to do things that needed to be done. 

Severe - I reserved this for days when I felt like I was having suicidal thoughts, having strong urges or actually SI'ing, escaping, not taking care of myself (bathing, eating properly, taking meds) and just having trouble doing the "basic things" required, even though some of these days I did go to work, I didn't accomplish anything but sitting staring at my computer waiting to go home (not functioning at work).

I don't know if this helps at all but I just wanted to give you an indication of what critieria I used when filling out the mood log for depression. 

Take care :hug:


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## ladylore (Mar 11, 2008)

TSOW said:


> From my understanding, and I stand to be corrected, there is no objective way a person can evaluate the severity of their own illness.
> 
> A mental health specialist will use diagnostic criteria in order to establish a diagnosis, but clinical experience based on interview combined with possible objective diagnostic testing might be the most reliable method of understanding the severity of ones depressive illness.
> 
> ...



I am not talking diagnosing myself but gauging where I am so I can take action if needed (go see doctor....)


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## Cat Dancer (Mar 11, 2008)

I think Halo's scale makes a lot of sense and it's similar to what I would use for rating my depression except for the working part because I don't have a job. 

It is hard figuring this stuff out.


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## boi (Mar 11, 2008)

hey braveheart,
I have a hard time filling out the mood log as well. It confuses me 
Halo's way to look at depression makes a lot of sense to me as well. I am going to start to use it!!! I hope you feel better


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## braveheart (Mar 12, 2008)

The purpose is to fill in this chart as accurately as I can, and to observe and keep track of what actually is going on in my head a bit more. 
And also to understand how ill or not I am.
Neither the psychiatrist nor my GP has ever commented on the 'degree' of my depression. Maybe I need to ask to see my medical records? 

The thing is, I understand that technically the current episode of depression is labelled as mild, moderate or severe, but if it varies from day to day, even morning to evening, how do you quantify that?


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## David Baxter PhD (Mar 12, 2008)

These are not precise "measures" and the degree of severity can indeed fluctuate or vary over time. If you are trying to estimate severity yourself, it should apply to the day you are making the rating.


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## Halo (Mar 12, 2008)

braveheart said:


> Neither the psychiatrist nor my GP has ever commented on the 'degree' of my depression. Maybe I need to ask to see my medical records?



Braveheart, I think that if you are trying to fill out the mood tracker for yourself than there is no reason to ask to see your medical records.  Those in my opinion are not going to help you determine the severity of your depression as the purpose for filling out the mood log is to gauge it from your perspective and nobody elses.



braveheart said:


> The thing is, I understand that technically the current episode of depression is labelled as mild, moderate or severe, but if it varies from day to day, even morning to evening, how do you quantify that?



Yes I do believe that depression varies from day to day and even from morning to evening and that is why the moodtracker is done each day so that you can keep track of your symptoms and severity of depression each day to determine whether they are getting better or worse.  

With respect to the severity fluctuating during each day, you may want to choose the option of entering two mood logs a day if you find that your depression is fluctuating that much during the day and you are having difficulty saying that you are only one of the three intensities of depression.  It is always an option.

But one thing that I would remind you is that this is a self-assessment based on how you feel and see the depression in yourself.  This is not based on how your doctor thinks or wants you to be, it is now how your flatmates think you are or your boss etc.  This is an honest account to yourself of how YOU think you are doing.

If you have any other specific questions about the moodtracker specifically, like I said I used it for about a year daily and can help you out if you are unsure.  Just send me a pm I would be glad to help out 

Take care
:hug: :hug:


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