National Depression Screening Day

During Mental Health Awareness Week (Oct. 6-10), make time to do a depression screening! Did you know that there is a simple test to help start the conversation about mental health called the PHQ-9 - the Patient Health Questionnaire-9? This assessment was tested between 1997-1998 by Kurt Kroenke, Robert Spitzer, and Janet Williams and underwritten by an educational grant from Pfizer US Pharmaceuticals, New York, NY. Through their research of testing this assessment on 580 patients, they were able to create a brief assessment that can quickly be used to assess depression symptoms and severity.  

In understanding what depression is, healthcare providers since 1999 can easily start the conversation about your relationship to your mental health with the following questions and how much you have felt these sensations/experiences in a two week window:

• Little interest or pleasure in doing things; 

• Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless; 

• Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much; 

• Feeling tired or having little energy; 

• Poor appetite or overeating; 

• Feeling bad about yourself – or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down; 

• Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television; 

• Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed. Or the opposite – being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual;

• Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way. 

Depending on your answers, there is a follow up question: “If you checked off any problems, how difficult have these problems made it for you to do your work, take care of things at home or get along with other people?” As an individual answers these questions, each response has a point value and depending on your score you can be recommended for therapy, psychopharmacology or needing to access more acute support.

As a reminder, mental health experiences can feel challenging and overwhelming if navigated alone. If you or a loved one experiences any of the listed bullet points above, consider having that person answer this screening in the presence of a therapist or their medical provider. Having a healthcare provider with an established relationship with the person in need can make this assessment feel more meaningful while answering questions that may come up in the assessment process.

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Lou Lim, LMHC, REAT is a licensed mental health counselor and registered expressive arts therapist (REAT) with a master's degree in Expressive Therapy and Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University. He is a member of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association and on the committee for REAT credentialing. He has 13 years of experience in counseling and expressive therapy working with children, adolescents, teenagers, adults, and retirees.

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