National Depression Screening Day

I’m a bit late on this, but October 5 was National Depression Screening Day.  The day itself, first created in 1990, is an effort to encourage people to determine if they are depressed and seek treatment for their illness.

Common depression screening tools

There are multiple depression screening tools available.  These tools, often available in online questionnaires, allow users to determine if may be suffering from depression.  Ideally, an appropriate screener will then link to resources which will enable a person to get help.

From what I have seen, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is the most common tool to determine depression.  It’s brief – just nine questions – and allows for the user to easily determine if they are potentially suffering from depression.

There are, of course, many more depression screening tools, including:

• Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS)
• Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
• Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)
• Major Depression Inventory (MDI)
• Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)
• Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS)
• Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)
• Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD)

Does depression screening work?

There is evidence which shows that depression screening can make untreated individuals aware of their problems and encourage them to seek treatment.  Depression screening also appears to be relatively accurate, and its systemic use can make doctors more aware of depression with their patients.

The biggest benefit of depression screening

Depression screening is a useful, if flawed tool, which allows for an individual to determine if they are depressed.  That being said, depression screening increases awareness of depression.  It allows someone to determine if they may be suffering from depression, and seek help.  It also treats depression just like any other physical aliment – this, in turn, has the power of reducing stigma.