About Diagnosing Depression: Tips For Diagnosing Depression

There are different methods of diagnosing depression. Depression not only affects the person who is going through it, but also everyone around them, including friends, family, loved ones, spouses, and children.

Diagnostics

Fundamentally' there is no real distinction between a Seasonal Affective Disorder and a common form of Depression. The difference is essentially in the pattern of depression. While the common form of Depression continues throughout the year' Seasonal Affective Disorder has a unique pattern to it' and every patient may have his or her own pattern in the year when the disorder expresses itself. Therefore' the key diagnosis of a Seasonal Affective Disorder is that its occurrence is not continuous' throughout the year' but it affects the patient at specific intervals in a year. In other words' a Seasonal Affective Disorder is seasonal in nature.

It is important to differentiate between a regular patient of Depression whose symptoms are seen throughout the year consistently' and a patient who suffers from Depression intermittently' and a pattern can be established to that. Such differentiation or diagnosis can be made primarily with the help of a clinical cross-questioning of the patient and a systematic establishment of past history of the occurrence of depression in the patient.

Furthermore' the diagnosis of Seasonal Affective Disorder is more firmly determined when a pattern or connection can be established between a specific period or “season” of the year' and the triggering of a depressive attack. While at other periods or “seasons” in the year' the depression remains in a state of remission. Importantly' such a pattern must have repeatedly occurred in the patient’s recent past history' in order to clearly establish a case of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Other diagnostic symptoms in a patient suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder may include a condition of lethargy' tiredness' sapping of energy' and extended sleeping hours' particularly during the months of winter. During such a period the patient may also develop a craving for carbohydrate-rich foods' may tend to eat excessively and gain excess weight. Another important fact to be remembered as a diagnostic tip is that between 60 to 90% of the patients of Seasonal Affective Disorder are women. At the same time' it has been observed that the people who live at higher latitudes are more likely to suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. Medical research has also established that this form of depression is more common among young people' and may typically have its onset in a person who is in his or her twenties.

Usually' a patient of Seasonal Affective Disorder would have suffered more seasonal bouts of depression than non-seasonal. The depressive episode would typically end at the change of a particular season' such as spring.

Summary: It is critically important to establish a distinction between a regular case of depression and a Seasonal Affective Disorder. The physician must examine the patient’s history of depression in careful detail' and must conduct a detailed interview with the patient to understand the symptoms and their pattern.