You doctor, if he or she is like most others, will be very wary of your using an online depression test to self diagnose, and for good reason. These types of tests can of course be very useful, but not if they are done instead of seeing your doctor! So by all means use them, but do realise that your symptoms may be because of medical reasons, or even because of other psychological conditions.Most psychologists are familiar with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and with its developer, Aaron T Beck. Beck devised a form of therapy called Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, which is now under considerable attack because of its claimed ineffectiveness. His company actually charged other psychologists a fee each time they used the BDI, so it's not surprising, for several reasons, that new and better testing was required.
A PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST TO MEASURE DEPRESSION SCORES
These days we have the Lifeworks Joy Inventory, developed by The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd in Perth, Western Australia. It's a very accurate test, and a side benefit is that it's positively oriented, so that the act of taking the test begins to prepare the client to move forward.Both clients and clinicians can be confident of using the Lifeworks Joy Inventory because it has correlated well not only with the BDI, but with the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and each client's own Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS)As well as being highly accurate, the Lifeworks Joy Inventory has another advantage: it is completely free to use and may be distributed freely as well. Designed as a gift to the field of mental health, it was hoped that more people would then benefit from free and easy access to quality testing.So if you believe you or a loved one may be suffering from depression, you'll find a link below to an interactive online test that will not only give you a depression rating and explain its meaning, but will also spell out what else you need to do in order to get a correct diagnosis.As explained in the test results, extremes can also be a cause for concern and also need the attention of a doctor and/or psychologist. Whilst a low extreme could be depression, it may also suggest other health problems. A high extreme could indicate an unhealthy denial of life's normal ups and downs.
WHEN YOU'VE GOT YOUR TEST RESULT
Despite your suspecting that you may have depression, it's possible your test results show as "normal ups and downs of life". If that's the case for you, it's still essential that you see your doctor so that he/she can do a thorough physical exam and check to see that your lifestyle is supporting your optimum physical and mental health.Once you have a proper diagnosis of depression you can embark on treatment knowing that any other medical issues have also been identified and will also be treated.In following the advice of your health professional, I must nonetheless exhort you not to believe anyone who tells you that you have to learn to live with depression, or that it's difficult to treat. Quite the opposite is the case, as demonstrated by research world wide, and particularly Australian research. You can resolve depression very rapidly indeed, without medication.While it's possible to get a complete cure for depression in just days, in order to achieve that it's essential to attend to the 17 lifestyle factors that we know can create or maintain depression, as well as the thinking styles that become a habit when the person has been depressed for a while. Using modern therapy techniques, even those can be resolved very rapidly, often in just minutes.If you're eating food that sustains you properly, if you're getting out and about and engaging with people whom you like and respect, if you're active through the day, sleeping well at night, contented in your relationships, and moving toward goals that are meaningful for you, then you can say goodbye to depression and hello to a rich and satifying life. That is the goal of therapy.
About the Author
You can take the online, interactive test for depression and receive your results and the meaning of your score range instantly. Be sure to pick up your free copy of the book "17 Solutions" once you've completed your depression test.
You can take the online, interactive test for depression and receive your results and the meaning of your score range instantly. Be sure to pick up your free copy of the book "17 Solutions" once you've completed your depression test.
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