How do we know if we really have a depressive illness? It’s true, nearly everybody gets down “in the dumps” occasionally and they may have the “blues”. No one is guaranteed a life free of emotional valleys. Usually most people don’t keep their sad moods for more than a few days at a time.

The following informal inventory contains symptoms of clinical depression. Check any of the following symptoms you’ve experienced over the past few weeks or months.

___ I am not as interested as I usually am in my daily affairs.
___ I don’t have as much fun doing the things I used to enjoy.
___ I experience very little pleasure anymore.
___ I haven’t been doing as much as I did before.
___ I spend a lot of time sitting around, staring at the wall.
___ I feel sad, blue or down in the dumps most of the time.
___ My life seems hopeless.
___ I have been more irritable or moody than usual.
___ I feel anxiety, nervousness or fear.
___ My sex drive is down.
___ Some people have noticed and remarked that I seem agitated.
___ I have been sleeping too much or too little
___ I wake up earlier than I use to.
___ I have been gaining weight or losing weight.
___ My appetite isn’t good or I have been eating more with or without weight gain/loss.
___ People notice that I look sad.
___ I am angry with the world or am easily provoked.
___ I’m having thoughts of hurting myself.

If you have checked many of these boxes we can help at Christian Counseling of Arkansas.