Depression is a substantial and potentially very serious cause of poor functioning and disability. Warning flags for the presence of depression can allow doctors to guide patients ideally toward recovery and health.
Recent research has highlighted specific symptoms that will hopefully help alert doctors to the possibility of depression in their patients.
Cheryl Carmin, PhD of the University of Illinois at Chicago and John Klocek, PhD of the University of Montana reported results of their evaluation of depression in a study of 357 consecutive patients. Their results were published in a recent issue of the periodical, The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine.
Drs. Carmin and Klocek designed and administered a 21-item questionnaire to evaluate patients for depression in an outpatient university family practice clinic. Of all patients, 15.7 percent reported significant symptoms of depression.
Five symptoms occurred in at least 90 percent of the clinic patients with depression. These symptoms were:
* Disappointment with self,
* Less enjoyment from usual activities,
* Hopelessness,
* Irritability, and
* Difficulty sleeping.
The study detected differences in symptoms between depressed women and depressed men. Women most often felt self-disappointment, while men most often reported less enjoyment from usual activities and difficulty sleeping.
The study concludes that physicians should actively question patients for these symptoms of depression as an easy method of screening for the illness. Persons with these symptoms may well warrant further evaluation for depression.