Most of us have feelings of depression occasionally. This is a normal response to a particular event such as the passing of a loved one. If the depression occurs without any apparent cause, deepens, and persists, it may be a symptom of some form of mental illness.

Since many of us frequently have some form of mild depression, the question that should always be asked is: are these feelings normal or a warning? Most times all that is needed when these feelings come our way is reassurance that our world is not coming to an end.

Although depressive illness is difficult to handle, the outlook is good for most sufferers, provided they are given appropriate treatment and counsel. Hospitalization is only infrequently necessary and most make very good recoveries.

Symptoms vary with the severity of the illness. In a person with mild depression, the main symptoms are anxiety and a variable mood. Sometimes he or she has fits of crying for no apparent reason. Persons with a more serious depression may suffer from loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, inability to enjoy social activities, feelings of fatigue and loss of concentration.

Severely depressed people may have thoughts of death and/or suicide, accompanied by feelings of guilt or worthlessness.

Your Personal Depression Evaluation

To see how the parts fit together in your life, it may be helpful to take the relatively simple test below in a very cursory attempt to determine whether your "downer" feelings may or may not be caused by some form of depression.

Instructions

Read each sentence carefully. For each statement, check the column that best corresponds to how often you have felt that way during the past two weeks. (For statements 5 and 7, if you are on a diet, answer as if you were not.)

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Statement	None or rarely	Sometimes	Often	Mostly or always
1. I feel downhearted, blue and sad.
2. Mornings are when I feel the best.
3. I have crying spells or feel like it.
4. I have trouble sleeping through the night.
5. I eat as much as I used to.
6. I enjoy looking at and talking to attractive people.
7. I am losing weight.
8. I have trouble with constipation.
9. My heart beats faster than usual.
10. I get tired for no reason.
11. My mind is as clear as it used to be.
12. I find it easy to do the things I used to do.
13. I am restless and can't keep still.
14. I feel hopeful about the future.
15. I am more irritable than usual.
16. I find it easy to make decisions.
17. I feel that I am useful and needed.
18. My life is pretty full.
19. I feel that others would be better off if I were dead.
20. I still enjoy the things I used to do.

Source: Eli Lilly & Co. and Cruz Clinic.