Generally doctors and other health professionals aren’t keen on patients’ self testing for depression because the checklists can’t possibly be thorough enough for accurate diagnosis. Not only can there be other reasons for the depression symptoms, but extreme scores can indicate other psychological problems quite apart from depression.
Up until now the most commonly-used test for depression has been the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), developed by Aaron T Beck many years ago. That test had to be paid for each time it was used, wasn’t freely available to the general public, and was quite negatively focussed.
A BETTER MEASURING TOOL FOR DEPRESSION
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.
Health practitioners and the general public can have confidence in the Lifeworks Joy Inventory because in every case to date it has matched well with the BDI and with other commonly-used scales (Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale, and the client’s own Subjective Units of Discomfort Scale).
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.
You can find a link below in order to grab a copy of the test, and or even take the test online.
One of the factors we address in the test results is that of extreme scoring. In either case, whether a score is extremely high or extremely low, other health problems quite apart from depression are also suggested.
AFTER YOUR TEST
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.
With a correct diagnosis, whether that’s depression or some other problem, you can then be confident of starting a program that’s going to be effective for you.
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.
For any depression treatment to be effective we need to look at the 17 lifestyle factors that health researchers advise are known to cause or help cause depression. We also need to examine the unconscious thoughts and feelings that underpin depression, and eliminate those quickly and easily using modern therapy techniques.
With a quality lifestyle and strong and healthy thoughts and feelings, the depression rapidly evaporates and the patient quickly moves into a more powerful and satisfying way of life.