National Depression Screening Day

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

Apparently, it’s today. I think it’s good that we have a reminder for folks who may be wondering if they have depression, but as Dr. Grohol mentions in his article about it, it’s not like you have to wait and make an appointment with a professional to begin to get some idea of whether you might have depression or should seek help.

But in this day and age of the Internet, I’d argue there’s little need to see a professional just to get a screening for depression. Our online depression screening quiz has been available for nearly 15 years and is a reliable, instant screening tool that you can take from the comfort of your home. Join the over 3 million others who’ve already taken the test, and share it with your friends and loved ones.

And frankly, the diagnosis of depression isn’t rocket science. You can review the symptoms of clinical depression yourself and see if you or a loved one may be at risk for it.

None of these online tools or symptom lists can substitute for a real diagnosis from a trained mental health professional. However, they can act as a quick screening tool to help you understand if this is a concern that you should consider seeking out further help for.

On the other hand, since today is National Depression Screening Day, if you are wondering about yourself, take the quiz, and if you’re wondering about someone you love, check the common symptoms and encourage them to also take the quiz!

Share with your friends!
BlueskyMastodonThreadsLinkedInRedditTumblrBuffer

Similar Posts

  • Guest Post – Insights

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 3 minutes

    This post was contributed by my good friend, and fellow Friends in Tech member, Kevin Devin. This past Tuesday morning my colleagues and I were summoned to a 15 minute all-hands meeting within the hour.  Of course, impromptu all-hands meetings never end up with “we think you all deserve a raise!” or anything else of…

  • World Suicide Prevention Day 2025 and things that don’t exist

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 4 minutes

    It’s heartbreaking to me. It’s overwhelming to consider what’s missing because we haven’t figured out a way to help those who need it the most. The loss is incalculable. I have no words to describe it. I can personalize it because I was someone at risk. I know what would be missing if I had lost that battle. I’d be missing from everything that has happened in the 30 years since. I don’t like to think about that. I can’t imagine a world where I never met my wife or many of the incredibly special people I’ve come to know over the years. I’m fortunate that it isn’t the real world, but I’m also aware of how easily it could have been. I was able to get help. I found support when needed. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to keep me connected to life and other people.

    Please, learn about suicide prevention. Ensure that you and everyone you care about are aware of the 988 number and other local resources available to you. Learn about how you can “Change the Narrative” this year at the WSPD link above.

  • What We Really Need is Compassion

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I see this a lot in our communities as well. Again, empathy when dealing with an individual child, or supporting a loved one with a mental health struggle is great, but trying to feel the pain of all of the abuse survivors we are likely to come across in the world online, is a sure way to overwhelm yourself and burn out. I’ve seen it over and over again. Much like COVID-19, these issues are global, and huge. Trying to take on that much pain is an impossible task, and isn’t actually going to be helpful. Much better, is to develop compassion. As the guests on the show discuss, compassionate emotions push us to act. That act, helping others, does more good for them, but is also good for us. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, and shutting down, we are taking some small amount of control over the situation, and acting on it in a way to helps. We become the helpers that Mr. Rogers so famously talked about. Being a helper, makes us happier. It sets aside our own anxiety and struggle to do something, which is always a good way to move beyond those things.

    So, the question may be not only what are you doing to take care of yourself during this time of great anxiety, but what are you doing to help others?

  • Depression Blogs

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

    Psych Central has posted the 2007 Best of the Web -Depression Blogs. There are a number of blogs in there I haven’t read before, I’ll definitely be taking a look. Perhaps while I sit at JFK tonight waiting for my delayed flight home. At least there’s wifi!! Technorati tags: PsychCentral, Depression, Blogs

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

To respond on your own website, enter the URL of your response which should contain a link to this post's permalink URL. Your response will then appear (possibly after moderation) on this page. Want to update or remove your response? Update or delete your post and re-enter your post's URL again. (Find out more about Webmentions.)