Everyone experiences feelings of depression from time to time: it’s a fact of life. But this type of depression shouldn’t be confused with the different types of depression that are true medical conditions. These must be diagnosed by qualified health care professionals after an examination and depression screening tools. Diagnoses could include major depressive disorder, postpartum depression , or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), to name a few.
There is no one specific medical test that can tell if you have depression. Instead, doctors diagnose depression through a combination of lab tests to rule out other possible causes (such as hypothyroidism), depression screening tests, and by talking to you.
Why Is Diagnosing Depression Challenging?
A depression diagnosis is often difficult to make because clinical depression can show up in so many different ways. For example, some clinically depressed people seem to withdraw into a state of apathy. Others may become irritable or even agitated. Eating and sleeping patterns can be exaggerated. Clinical depression may cause someone to sleep or eat to excess, while someone else may almost eliminate those activities.
Someone’s observable or behavioral symptoms of clinical depression may also look minimal despite profound inner turmoil. Depression can be an all-encompassing disorder, and it affects a person’s body, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors in varying ways.
