Tired is not always just tired.
Depression doesn't always look like sadness. It can look like a short fuse, broken sleep, or going through the motions while everything inside has gone grey. This assessment works out whether what you're feeling is depression, how heavy it is, and what may be feeding it.
What is a depression assessment?
A structured look at your mood: how many symptoms you have, how long they've been there, and how much they get in the way. It rests on short questionnaires and a conversation. It puts a name and a size to something that has probably been hard to describe.
This assessment helps you see
- ✓ Whether your symptoms add up to depression, and how severe they are
- ✓ What else may be in the mix: grief, burnout, poor sleep, a health problem
- ✓ How it's affecting work, relationships and daily life
- ✓ A starting point we can measure against later
Secure, confidential scheduling
The questionnaires we use
I choose from these depending on your question. You fill them in at home.
- PHQ-9. Nine questions on interest, mood, sleep, energy, appetite and how you see yourself, over the past two weeks. One asks about thoughts of self-harm.
- DASS-21. Twenty-one statements over the past week. Its depression scale picks up low mood, lost enthusiasm and a sense of worth. The same form also measures anxiety and stress, which helps us tell them apart.
- Broad check (DSM-5 Level 1). If it isn't clear what's going on, a 23-question sweep of 13 areas shows where to look.
- Safety check (C-SSRS). If your answers or our conversation raise a concern, I ask a few direct questions aloud in session, and we make a plan together.
How it works
You get the forms once you book. After you send them back, I read them before we meet. The session is a conversation, not an exam: I ask when this began, what makes it better or worse, and what it costs you. At the end we decide what's next.
Questions people ask
What if I'm not sure it's depression?
That's the reason to do it. Many people come because they can't tell.
Does a high score mean I'm depressed?
No single score decides it. It's one input, alongside our conversation and your history.
What if I have dark thoughts?
The PHQ-9 asks about them directly, and so will I. Telling me isn't a problem. It's information I need.
Want a quick check first?
You can try the free PHQ-9 screening questionnaire online. It takes about two minutes, your answers stay on your own device, and it is a guide rather than a diagnosis.